Days drifted by, slow and agonizingly uneventful. Everyone was distracted, the dominant thought in their heads being we don't know who did this. And they didn't. Whoever had almost killed Major Lorne's team hadn't made another move, and thorough sifting through whatever information they had gathered yielded nothing.

Dr. Neal, John secretly thought, was impressed with the hostiles. Not because they were evil and that they had hidden themselves so well, but with what they had accomplished by mutating the Pegasus yew almost beyond recognition.

Dr. Parrish didn't share Dr. Neal's fascination. He thought that the massive and unnatural alteration to the plant was appalling. The man loved nature just the way it was, and didn't approve of people tampering with it in unhealthy ways. Especially for the purpose of killing people.

Kathy, when she and John met up for lunch sometime later, noted that the hostiles must have intended for Lorne's team to kill additional Lanteans. "They could have killed them with straight yew poison," she pointed out. "With the added paranoia factor, they could have only wanted them to take out more of us before they went down."

The more John thought about what these guys had done to his people, the more he wanted to put a bullet through each of their hearts. As it was, he had to settle for the shooting range, and so far he had found at least two members of Lorne's team down there at any given time.

This whole ordeal was frustrating for them most of all. Thanks to Kathy's idea, they were essentially dead, unable to do anything to help. John never failed to notice their taut expressions whenever they had to duck out of sight of a visiting offworlder.

John's frustration and anger continued to mount, and he knew the emotions were beginning to cloud his mind. Anger at an unseen enemy, anger that couldn't be spent, was dangerous for himself and the people he had to protect. He gave Colonel Carter a heads-up that he was borrowing one of the Jumpers and went to clear his head.

When he entered the bay, he noticed one of the Jumpers was already gone. Apparently Lorne had the same idea.

…

Kathy found Jon and Neal in one of the recreational areas. Jon was sitting at a table, carefully constructing a building of cards while Neal stood by his shoulder, watching his activity intently.

Now who would have thought that would be something seen in this life? Jon Parrish and Isaac Neal, spending recreational time together?

Somebody pinch me, Kathy thought.

Neal craned his neck forward a little to peer down at Jon's project, then said, "You're doing it wrong."

Jon glared up at him. "I am doing it perfectly right!" he snapped.

"No, this isn't how you do it. You're doing it wrong."

"Boys, boys," Kathy said, waving her hands placatingly. "Cockfighting later. Jon's just trying it a different way, Neal. Experimentation is what we're all about, remember?"

Neal snorted. "He's going to fail."

Jon's glare intensified. "Don't make me impale you with these," he said warningly.

"Uh, Jon? Leave the impaling to the professionals, please," Kathy said. "And I don't think poker cards work very well with the stabbing thing."

Jon scowled and turned back to his structure. Neal picked up a Rubik's Cube that Kathy hadn't noticed before. It was made with a unique touch that Neal must have added himself—six cubes in each row rather than three.

"Custom design?" Kathy asked, nodding to the cube. Neal nodded, focusing his attention on it and seemingly paying no mind to what Jon was doing. Kathy caught him glancing over every few seconds, though.

Could it be… that Jon and Neal were becoming friends? Now that was an amazing thought. They seemed to be getting along better, although now there was no urgency to force them to cast aside their bickering.

Kathy found herself thinking of John and McKay. Yes, there were similarities, except in this case they were both scientists with their own individual traits as well. Still, the parallels were amusing.

Jon's house of cards collapsed, and he groaned in frustration. Neal looked smug as he stared down at his Rubik's Cube.

"Told you so," he said.

Jon flung the scattered cards at him, but it's hard to make fluttering paper into anything lethal.

Kathy laughed and volunteered to help Jon start again. "But why don't we try for an ordinary house before we tackle the Eiffel Tower, hm?"

Neal snickered, and within moments he was dragged into the construction of a card house.

…

John was thrown to the floor for the fourth time. Or was it the sixth? He wasn't really keeping count.

"You're distracted," Teyla stated, looking down from where she had her foot planted on John's throat.

John lifted his eyebrows. "You don't say," he rasped.

Teyla stepped off him and offered an arm up. Her strong fingers gripped his forearm, and with little effort the smaller woman hauled John to his feet.

"Tell me," Teyla said. "Whatever troubles you is keeping you from focusing. You only bring more misery on yourself by not resolving it."

"That's just it: I don't know how," John admitted. He and Teyla split off, sitting down on opposite-facing benches. Each picked up a water bottle and started guzzling. They had been at this for a while.

"Is it what happened to Major Lorne's team?" Teyla asked between gulps.

"No, it's not that," John said. "Well, it is that, but that's not what really bothers me right now." He looked down at his knees as he thought. Teyla watched him, waiting.

"What do you think of her, Teyla?" John finally asked.

"Think of whom?" Teyla replied.

"Kathy."

"She confuses you?" Teyla asked, her own head tilting curiously.

John shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to make of her!" he exclaimed, his frustration with the situation finally coming out. "She's so… different, y'know? But she's also not, and I can't figure out what's changed, what makes her draw so many people towards her, and not one of them the same. I can't figure her out, Teyla!"

Teyla smiled wisely and she leaned forward, propping her elbows up on her knees.

"Perhaps," she said, "the best way to find out is to be drawn in yourself."

John looked at Teyla as though she were crazy. Though to live in this place, you kinda had to be.

"Teyla, when you run reconnaissance on someone, you don't become their best friend," he said. "I don't even know anything about her! Well, a little, but it doesn't count for much."

"Kathy is not your enemy, John," Teyla replied. "That should be reason enough to have at least some amount of faith in her. You knew each other as children, did you not? And you were close?"

"Practically siblings," John replied. "You just had to look at us to see that we were up to no good."

"Then why are you so uncertain of her now?"

"Because… well, I don't know, Teyla. She's different… I'm different. I mean, when we were kids, I wanted to study old books and rocks with doodles on 'em. I've changed a lot since then, Teyla. There's no way Kathy hasn't changed just as much. And she's hiding something, I can feel it."

"Everyone hides something, John," Teyla pointed out. "And always for a reason. Perhaps she is afraid."

"She doesn't strike me as the type who'd be afraid, Teyla," John said. He paused as he thought of that look she gave him back in the office two weeks ago. "Then again…"

"What is it that makes you hesitate, John?" Teyla asked. "Do you not like her?"

"No, it's not that, I like her, at least I guess so… I don't know," John confessed. "It's complicated."

"That seems to be a favorite word of the peoples of Earth," Teyla remarked. "Perhaps it is time you found out how you truly feel about Kathy. And remember, you cannot learn a woman's heart unless she lets you into it. Kathy is not someone who shuts others out, I have learned, at least not by habit. In fact, she was one of the most welcoming people in Atlantis when my people first came here more than three years ago.

"She understood us, not as your anthropologists understood our culture, but she understood us for who we are. For that many Athosians love her. They have frequently asked that she come see them, but often she is busy, and wormhole travel is something that unnerves her, she has said."

John looked at Teyla with a puzzled expression. "I thought you said you never met Kathy."

"Not personally, no," Teyla replied. "But I have heard my people speak of her, especially the children. And since you introduced us at lunch two weeks ago, I have taken the opportunity to know her better. She is a delightful woman, it is a shame I hadn't met her before. She has a very enjoyable personality."

Teyla paused, looking thoughtful and somber. "That is another thing," she said. "John, you are searching for a reason to trust in Kathy, for you are not so certain that you know her. Well, this is the reason I offer: Aiden trusted her. If that is not enough, then I do not know what will be."

That stabbed John's heart, right in the place where it hurt. But it was a good sort of pain, he supposed, the kind that woke you up and jolted you back into awareness.

Ford had trusted Kathy. Teyla was right. If that wasn't reason enough to trust the woman, then nothing would be.

John nodded at the Athosian. "Thanks, Teyla."

Teyla nodded back. "You're welcome, John," she replied. She nodded to the poles, a grin flashing across her face. "Again?"

John shrugged. "What have I got to lose?" he said, hauling himself to his feet. "Other than every whole bone in my body."

Teyla chuckled, swinging the sticks in her hands easily, making them cut through the air with a thwump thwump that made John think of a helicopter. He took his stance, feet placed firm, sticks prepared for the coming blows.

"Ready?" Teyla asked.

"Ready."

She launched herself at him like a cat.

…

Major Crawford was walking down a hallway. There were an awful lot of them in Atlantis, he had noticed. He wasn't going any particular place—one of his men had busted a leg, so Crawford's team was off-duty while he rested it up.

He came around a corner and found Major Lorne, leaning up against a wall with an open sketchbook in his hand.

"Ah, our fabulous artiste at a-work, I see," Crawford exclaimed as he came up, deliberately pushing in a phony Italian accent.

His fellow Major looked over at him. "No moustache?" he asked dryly. "I thought all Italians favored those."

Crawford chuckled and dropped the accent. "Man, I'm not Italian. I'm about as Italian as Ancient Japan." He leaned up against the wall next to his comrade. "How ya doin', Evan?" he asked.

Evan shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Already picking up signs of cabin fever in my team."

"Life's gotta suck for you right now," Crawford said. "Or death. Gotta admit, when I thought about talking to ghosts, this is not what I pictured."

Evan laughed. "Story of my life."

"Well hey, at least that means it's full of surprises!" Crawford pointed out.

Evan shook his head, a light smile turning his lips upward. It didn't stay. "Well, that's not always the greatest thing," he told Crawford. "Sometimes I can't help but wonder where on earth all the normalcy's gone."

"Probably back to Earth," Crawford replied. "I suppose that's where it belongs."

By mutual agreement the brothers-in-arms slipped into a silence, the only sound the gentle scratch of Evan's pencil against the sketchbook's paper.

"For a Marine, you're not half bad, Crawford," Evan remarked. Though there was a slight teasing note, Crawford knew it was meant as a compliment.

One corner of his lips went up in a half-smile. "Well, I'd have to say just about the same for you, Evan."

"Thanks." Evan closed his sketchbook and walked away. Crawford watched him go, unconsciously standing at-ease. He caught his action and chuckled softly, then turned and headed for the infirmary to check up on his man.

Scientists were the clumsiest specimens of humanity, he had decided. Anyone else would have seen that ten-foot hole.

…

John came out into the sunny, well-lit mess hall. Naturally the first person his eyes lighted on was Kathy. Something about her continually drew his gaze. Of course, in this case what brought his attention was that Kathy and her tablemate—Dr. Keller—were laughing uproariously.

And by that, he meant uproariously. John didn't think he had ever seen Dr. Keller laughing so hard. Kathy was pounding on the table, and between deep belly laughs she managed to wheeze a few words to Dr. Keller, setting them both off again.

John watched this for about a minute before deciding to go up and find out what was so funny. Also, they were kind of weirding people out. The disturbed folk usually ended up cracking a smile and laughing too, but John knew they were wondering what the joke was about.

He walked up to the table just as another round started off. Kathy looked up at him, her red face holding a pair of vibrantly sparkling eyes. "Hi John!" she greeted him cheerily. Dr. Keller giggled from behind her hands.

John looked down at Kathy warily. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Kathy shook her head, the occasional breathless laugh slipping out. "You wouldn't get it, John," she chuckled. "This is inside jokes within inside jokes within another platoon of inside jokes, generously spiced with multiple fandom references."

"And hilarity," Dr. Keller added, somehow having managed to gather enough breath to form words.

"Yes, and the topping of hilarity, mustn't forget the hilarity."

Keller snorted so hard John thought it had to hurt.

"Trust me, John, you would get lost in a verbal maze," Kathy told him.

Dr. Keller giggled from behind the supposed safety of her hands. John guessed she was using them as sound mufflers. They weren't working too well.

"What sort of references?" he asked.

"Well, not including the inside jokes, which is really what it all funny, we have so far mashed up classic Avengers comics…" She was counting on her fingers.

"Know that," John said.

"Doctor Who…"

"Don't know that."

"Firefly…"

"There is no way anybody couldn't know that."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Lord of the Rings…"

"Sort of familiar with that."

"And Gilbert and Sullivan?"

John blinked at her. "Who?"

"You know, the opera writers with a penchant for rhyming. I am the very model of a modern Major General!"

"Oh gaw, that song," John said, cringing away in horror.

"Then you had better leave," Kathy said. "Loki has been singing lines from H.M.S. Pinafore and Thor is Buttercup."

John stared at her. "How is this funny?" he demanded. "It's—blasphemy!"

"Oh, the inside jokes make it even better," Kathy replied. "You should hear the duet between Hawkeye and Legolas."

"I'm out of here," John said, and promptly bolted. At a brisk walk, of course. He didn't want anyone to think he was running away from a couple of ladies who were butchering his beloved Avengers.

Kathy leaned over the table and whispered something into Keller's ear, and they both went off howling again. John shook his head. Girls. No respect for their comic book superheroes.

Kathy watched John go, laughing even though her belly had long ago started its complaints.

"I hurt," Jennifer moaned and giggled at the same time. "I don't think I've laughed that hard in ages."

"Oh yeah, I really needed that," Kathy giggled. "Laughter's good for the soul."

"Don't I know it," Jennifer replied. "I don't think I've ever been happier than I am right now."

Kathy beamed over at Jennifer. "You're my best friend, Jennifer."

Jennifer looked back at her for a moment. For some reason she didn't feel surprised. "I know," she said.

Turrah, can't believe I got this in on time! Considering that I didn't get any editing done until yesterday. Oh yeah, doing this by the skin of my teeth. Which is kind of hard to reach past the braces, actually.

I'm not sure that I've written this many scenes and POVs in one chapter before. It was challenging and also fun. And Crawford's back again! :) He grew on me in the time he was away, so here he is, returned.

By the way, I haven't mixed classic Marvel with Doctor Who with Firefly with Lord of the Rings with Gilbert and Sullivan. My brain just might start, though. Well, something to keep me entertained in the late hours of the night (or wee hours of the morning. I'm a bit of a night owl).

I do love rhymes, that's why I enjoy Gilbert and Sullivan so much. Touch, such, crutch, Dutch.

Same time next week!