One

Still feeling like a cat that just discovered a jug of cream, she enters the mess hall. It astonishs her a little, since usually 0700 in the morning is not her time. But there really is something about just knowing that you don't have to choose between your career and your heart anymore – at least not for the time being – that even brightens up the morning to you.

Grabbing a tablet, she spots Will Meyers sharing a table with Sergeant McPherson and sets off to join them, hoping McPherson won't mind. At first the Sergeant had seemed a little wary of her, keeping his distance and giving her a cool and professional attitude, but over the last few weeks he seemed to have finally warmed up to her, probably because he has simply accepted that he wouldn't get rid of her in that practical way so many Sergeants seem to be prone to.

But suddenly, someone brushes past her and snatches away the chair she'd set her eyes on. Her first impulse is to call the offender something pretty rude, but then she realizes who it was that ruined her mood and she gets an idea. Catching Meyers' eyes she positions herself behind Lieutenant Simmons and gestures for Meyers to pretend he doesn't see her. To her surprise, McPherson obviously also decided to refrain from giving Simmons a hint as to who is standing behind him. For someone who always gave her the impression that he didn't want to take sides, that was a pretty bold move.

"You know, I didn't see Major "UCMJ doesn't apply to me" the whole day yesterday. Wonder if he was screwing around with that red hot Lieutenant of his again." Mh. That could be a clue to McPherson's decision, she thinks. Obviously, it's not the first remark in that direction Simmons makes at them. Maybe McPherson has decided to keep his opinion on Evan and her to himself and not let it interfere with how he behaves towards her, but she's positive that he does not approve of a Lieutenant who's still wet behind the ears insulting their CO like this. Let's see how this plays out.

"Actually, it's a red hot Captain, sir.", Meyers matter-of-factly reminds the Lieutenant, and she gives him a look that says "Thanks for pointing that out, Sergeant."

Simmons, however, doesn't seem too impressed about it. He snorts. "That's not making it any better. Honestly, it's no wonder that woman got promoted only a few months after starting to sleep with…"

Before she can step in, Meyers clears his throat. "Uh, with all due respect… you might want to hold that thought, sir…" She understands that Meyers, who isn't really fond of Simmons but probably shares Evan's opinion that the Lieutenant simply needs to weather out a little, just wanted to save Simmons from himself, but she has to step in now, if only because McPherson is still there and has to see that she doesn't tolerate insolence of this scale and simply has to interfere. As she moves to claim the remaining chair, Meyers just utters "Nope, too late."

Simmons wants to say something, but she cuts him short, asking cheerfully: "Hey guys, mind if I sit down?"

Giving her a genuine smile, Meyers doesn't give Simmons a chance to decline and says: "We'd be honored if you did, ma'am."

Determined to make Simmons wonder how long exactly she's been standing there and give him enough time to develop something of a bad consciousness, she doesn't acknowledge him, but answers Meyers: "Aw, that's so nice of you, Sergeant." With that, she turns back to Simmons, who looks like he can't decide between looking ready to go off on her or ready to bolt. Good. For something like that, he should be very afraid of her. And to increase his confusion, she decides to keep perfectly nice, while going in for the kill. "Close your mouth again, Simmons. Sergeant Meyers here has only developed a soft spot for lovesick officers."

It's amazing. She can see exactly when her words hit home and when exactly he realizes that there's nothing stopping her from radioing his CO right here and now and tell him something that could probably end his career before it even began. He doesn't know that she's not the tattletale kind of girl and rather prefers to solve such things on her own… but there's no chance in hell she'll already tell him that. No, she wants to see him suffer, because this is maybe the only way to get him to stop spouting stuff like this around about Evan, her, Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, McKay... And to stop him from ruining his own career with that. Meyers seems to have seen it as well and only offers a non-committing: "Your words, ma'am, not mine."

"Of course, Sergeant. Now, guys… I hear you've got a mission ahead of you, today?" She expects Simmons to answer now, but it's McPherson who does her the honor.

"Affirmative, ma'am. Major Lorne said we are to accompany Colonel Sheppard's team on a first contact mission. Seemed to be quite important." She suspects that McPherson spoke up because he thinks that Simmons hasn't calmed down enough and might have said something not nice. God, she really hopes that some day – and preferably some day soon – Simmons will learn to appreciate the lengths these two Sergeants go to save him from doing very stupid things.

"Aren't they all. You know, I envy you."

"What, because we get to be in the presence of the guy who single-handedly defied the UCMJ?" This time, neither Meyers nor McPherson were fast enough to keep Simmons from being an idiot. Obviously, the day where he realizes that they are actually helping him is still very far away.

Setting down her knife, she turns to him. With an edge that already promises him a lot of trouble to her otherwise still friendly voice, she replies: "No, because you actually get to go off-world. I'll just overlook your rather unfortunate choice of words, because obviously up to now the people around you have failed to tell you that going off-world is a privilege, and going off-world with Major Lorne is considered an honor around here." There. Now the cards are on the table. Let's see if he gets what he's supposed to do now.

"People seem to have a pretty warped idea of the concept of honor around here." Nope, didn't get it. Alright, time to move the discussion to another place, because as much as she'd like to humiliate the Lieutenant in front of the two Sergeants that are still his subordinates, she also knows that doing this would make her own reputation sink in the eyes of said Sergeants.

"I think it's better if we continue this discussion somewhere a little more private." And be thankful for it, she thinks.

"Hey, I don't mind…" No, that's not thankful.

Time for the big guns. "I wasn't making a suggestion, Lieutenant." In the corner of her eyes, she catches McPherson's face and sees approval as well as just a little hint of surprise on it. Well, about time she shows them that even she has a line where she stops being nice and funny Laura and becomes formal respect-demanding Captain Cadman.

And just for once Simmons actually does the right thing and gets up to heed her order. Obviously some part of his brain registered that he was straight on the road to at least a reprimand here and told him that insubordination probably wasn't such a good idea now. She wants to get up as well, but before she can lead Simmons out of the mess hall, Meyers clears his throat. "Permission for a word in private, ma'am?" Seems like he's got something important on his mind. Mh.

"Alright. Lieutenant, you wait here. I think I don't have to tell you how unwise it would be not to wait." With a stoic face and a stiff back, Simmons acknowledges her order and sits down again. McPherson, obviously not willing to get caught between a rock and a hard place excuses himself and turns tail as fast as he can. With a jerk of her head, she gestures Meyers to follow her out of the mess hall.

When they are just out of the door, they come to stand in a secluded corner from where she can still monitor the mess hall's door, just in case Simmons decides to be stupid again. She nods to Meyers. "Okay… what is it?"

For a moment, he rubs his neck, as if he wants to stall because he isn't sure if he can actually tell her what he wanted to say. Inwardly she makes a face. Honestly… that guy is the last one who should be afraid to ask her something. "One… no, two things, ma'am. First one… could you… could you have an eye on Jessi, while we're gone? I know it's supposed to be a short mission and totally safe… but you know what the means." Yep. Everything can happen.

She smiles reassuringly. "Sure." The relief that shows in Meyers' face is touching.

"Thanks. I really hope it's not much of a bother to you and…" She holds up her hand. It's definitely not a bother. A week ago Meyers' wife had arrived here, totally in awe of the city and its inhabitants. Although Jessica Meyers is so very different from her – shy, quiet, modest – she has taken a likening to the nurse. The moment she had met her the first time, she had started to take her under her wings and introduce her to her own circle of Atlantis friends. She suspects that Evan has already warned Meyers that soon he might have to deal with a whole armada of Atlantis women if he so much as teases his wife a little too intensely.

"It's not, Sergeant. I know how the first few weeks here are. I might be cooped up in my lab, but there's also Captain Reece, Dr. Ochovskaya… We'll take care of her." She even goes as far as clapping his shoulder.

"I have no doubt about that." He flashes her a grin, and it makes her wonder not for the first time how two people so very different from each other like Will and Jessica Meyers could have ended up together.

She nods. "Mh, thanks for the vote of confidence, Sergeant. What was the second thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

This time, Meyers takes a deep breath, and it already tells her that he is about to tell her something she might not like. "Ma'am… don't be too hard on Lieutenant Simmons." Ah. Well… she should have expected that. "I know he's not been exactly… uh… cooperative and he's… giving all of us headaches, most of all the boss, but… he's just a kid. He just doesn't know the boss and you like I do, and he's under a lot of strain. Just needs a little time to get used to everything here."

She wishes it was like that. But the way the Lieutenant just went off on her – a Captain, for Heaven's sake – tells her that his problem goes deeper than just needing time to adjust. And additionally, Simmons had more than two months time to get settled here. "Probably. But you do realize that I can't let him walk around and practically tell everyone who does or doesn't want to hear it that he thinks I'm sleeping my way up the chain of command, right?"

Meyers nods, looking very uncomfortable. As if he knows she's right, but doesn't want her to get in the line of fire. "Yes, I do. I'm just saying… maybe you should let the boss handle it."

She understands him. He thinks that she shouldn't get involved with this, but she can't back down now, and not only because the Lieutenant has insulted her. "Sergeant, if the boss learns that Simmons practically considers me a whore and him the john, that kid is dead. D – E – A – D. What I'm doing now is trying to protect him from himself."

"Alright. But you know how the boss thinks about you handling his job, right?" Well… Meyers really knows them well. Even better than she thought he does.

She knows she could simply order him to let this lie and mind his own business. But they're not standing in front of a line of Marines and that's also not how you treat friends. "I do. Just… let me worry about that, alright? Just promise me not to tell the Major anything about this. This is something between Simmons and me. I promise I won't let the Major get off on you in case it goes FUBAR."

He still doesn't look happy. But in the end, he agrees, although a little unwilling. "Alright… agreed. But it's a promise, right?"

Grateful that he promised not to go straight to Evan with this – and she knows what it's costing him – she gives him a thankful smile and says: "Yes, it is. Now finish breakfast. You need to be strong and healthy for yet another day in outer space. Oh, and send Simmons out to me." With a casual salute, he acknowledges her order and then reenters the mess hall.

A/N: Seems like a certain Lieutenant is really getting himself into trouble... actually, I enjoyed writing the officer part of Laura's personality, because we really haven't seen much of that yet.

BTW, this chapter was also betaed by mac. I hope it's okay with Asugar, who offered to beta as well. But, as I see it, she is doing a fantastic job with Eva's "Coming back home" and I simply didn't want to distract her too much from that. I really enjoy your reviews, Asugar, which are already helping a lot :)