Author's Note: I apologize for posting before answering reviews. I appreciate every single one of them, but today has been a bit hectic. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! ~lg

oOo

The shouting drew Lorne quicker than just about anything. He'd been sitting in his home, enjoying a few moments of peace while he ate some of Olina's bread along with the inevitable stew. Then, one of the Marines came running, telling him that Parker and Solen Sincha were duking it out in the street. He dropped his lunch and ran, already preparing for the inevitable dressing-down he'd have to give to someone. He doubted that Parker had started the fight, though the Marine could have misinterpreted something Sincha said. As he ran, Evan rolled his eyes at that thought.

Arriving on the scene of the fight, Lorne realized that he'd have to physically intervene. He saw Beckett rushing toward the scene as well, but most of the spectators were simply allowing the two men to beat the daylights out of each other. At the moment, Parker held his own against the out-of-shape Sincha. Pushing through the shouting crowd, Lorne raised his voice. "Break it up! Break it up!"

Parker immediately began to back off, but Sincha charged him. Lorne shouted and stepped in front of the Satedan, getting knocked back a couple of feet but still stopping the charge. He was unable to completely evade Sincha's punch, however, and took the blow on his jaw. It knocked him to the ground, and Sincha tripped over his legs. Lorne immediately jumped back to his feet, blinking away the vertigo in order to grab the Satedan. He pushed against Sincha with all of his strength, managing to stop him from getting to Parker. "What is going on here?"

"I'm sorry, Sir," Parker began, breathing heavily as he dabbed at his split lip. "We were working on this building like you ordered when. . . ."

Sincha interrupted. "He's desecrating the place!"

Lorne's eyebrows rose. "How's that?"

"This place is special to all Satedans." Sincha glared. "That man was coming in here and telling us what to do!"

Lorne simply turned to look at Parker.

"He didn't say anything, Sir." Parker shrugged, the fight having gone out of him. "Just came in swingin'."

"I shouldn't have to say anything!" Sincha replied. "You should have known!"

"And how could I?" Parker demanded as Beckett began prodding at his wounds in an attempt to see how bad they were. "You didn't say anything, didn't try to talk or explain! Just attacked!"

"Hey, I tried telling you all of this earlier!"

"By picking fights all over the city?" Parker pushed away Beckett's hands and took a couple of steps toward Sincha. "You just attack us with no regard to what we're trying to do here!"

"You know nothing about Sateda!" Sincha charged again, managing to wind Lorne even though the major stopped him. Sincha continued to scream. "You have no idea what this city was about! You want to come in here, take control, and build it to your ideals! Not ours! You should consider what we hold dear before you start telling us what to do!"

"You weren't rebuilding this world!" Parker glared. "Why shouldn't we have our way?"

Lorne held up his hand. "Take a walk, Parker!" When the Marine continued to glare at Sincha, Evan narrowed his eyes. "I said, take a walk! That's an order!"

Parker brushed past Beckett and threw off the doctor's arm as he stalked away. Lorne turned back to Solen Sincha. "What is this place?"

"It's the Satedan military academy." Sincha turned his ire on Lorne. "If you knew anything about Sateda. . . ."

"I know plenty about Sateda," Lorne interrupted, stepping forward to meet Sincha's eyes. "I also know that Ronon wouldn't allow us to do anything to this building that would desecrate it. He already spoke to me about it. You cannot go around picking fights just because we're not able to rebuild this city just like you remember it."

"But he. . . ."

"I'm not done!" Lorne hollered. He ignored the sound of the Stargate activating. When Sincha fell silent, clearly falling back on military training, he continued, "As I was saying, you can't pick fights with our people for no reason. One of these days, you're gonna get into it with someone you can't beat. If you can't find something useful to do, you will be asked to leave. But you will not keep causing problems."

Sincha glared at him, not looking away. Lorne decided that he would be the winner of this particular staring contest, not minding the activity around him. Several Satedans had gathered to watch the fight and were hanging on every word. Marines and Kians waited to see how Lorne would enforce his ultimatum. And Sheppard's team wanted someone to explain why they returned from a trading mission to a fight.

Sheppard stepped forward. "Major?"

Lorne didn't break eye contact with Sincha. "Sir?"

"What's going on?"

Sincha narrowed his eyes briefly before looking at Sheppard. "I was just heading home." He stomped away, drawing the attention of everyone there for several seconds.

Lorne closed his eyes and ran a hand down his face, the headache that had plagued him all day exacerbated by the blow he'd taken when breaking up the fight. He blinked it back and met Sheppard's eyes. "Sincha disagreed with Parker."

"Why?"

Lorne outlined what little bit he'd learned about the argument. Then, he glanced at Ronon. "I know he's your friend, Ronon, but he's got to do something better than getting into fights all the time. If he can't do that, he'll have to leave." Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.

oOo

Olina startled as the door to her home opened. She blinked when Ronon walked through, looking angry and not at all ready to sit still. Pushing away from the spinning wheel that Javan had sent through the gate two days ago, she stood and walked over to him. "Ronon?"

He shook his head. "Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe. . . ."

Olina frowned when he didn't continue. "Is this about Solen Sincha?"

"How do you know?"

She smiled, but it wasn't an amused or happy smile. "Rumors get around. People talk." She met Ronon's incredible green eyes. "You cannot blame yourself for his actions."

He held her gaze. "Yeah." As if debating his next words, he hesitated. Some indefinable emotion flitted through his eyes before he apparently made a decision. "Neither can you."

For a moment, Olina wondered when this conversation had become about her. Ronon wasn't the greatest conversationalist, but he had a knack for seeing to the heart of a matter. Many times, he would say something that caused her or others around her to think harder about the situation. Still, the change in topic startled her. "I thought we were talking about Solen."

"Yeah, we were." He turned to face her, taking her shoulders with gentle hands. "Olina, both of us have people from our home worlds that either betrayed us or otherwise did something we think we should have foreseen. Neither of us can blame ourselves. They made their decisions. We didn't. You are not your sister."

She wanted to pull away, but his hands held her in place. "Ronon, I would prefer we didn't discuss her right now."

"Why not?"

"Because. . . ."

"Because she was your sister? Or because you refuse to accept what she did?" When she gaped at him, he shook his head. "I'm not saying you have to forgive her, forget what happened, or whatever. I'm saying you have to accept what happened. By refusing to accept it, you'll never heal."

Olina glanced down, unable to keep staring at the compassion burning in his eyes. "What do you know of that?"

He shrugged. "Look around. I had to accept what happened here."

"How did you do that?"

"I came back." He let go of her shoulders, leaving her feeling chilled. "I went back to my home, faced the memories, and let my friends allow me to build a new life."

Panic rose at the thought of returning to Kiah. "I can't. . . ." Her breathing quickened, and he wrapped his arms around her. She drew in a couple of deep breaths in spite of how her heart pounded, burying her face in his chest until she got control. Looking up at him, she shook her head. "Don't make me do that, Ronon."

"I won't." He led her to a chair and then crouched in front of her. "But you asked how I accepted what happened to me. I don't know what it'll be for you."

Olina nodded and took a few moments to gather her thoughts. She had not returned to Kiah since her father's funeral, and she had no desire to be reminded of what she had lost. It was enough that Gisli and Kalle were locked away in an Ataliyan prison where they could never do anyone harm again. Why should she go back to the place that utterly destroyed her world? Why should she subject herself to that? Tears welled up in her eyes, and she glanced away from Ronon to hide them. She could not go back there. Not now. Not ever.

Without warning, Ronon stood. "Come on." He held out his hand.

"Where?"

He shrugged. "A walk. Maybe food."

In spite of the tears still in her eyes, Olina smiled as she allowed him to pull her to her feet. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked.

"Dunno." Ronon laced their fingers together as he led her out of her home. Olina swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and decided to focus on how special it made her feel to have him holding her hand. She had never thought that someone as. . .wild. . .as Ronon would stir such feelings in her. Suddenly, she understood how her sister could have been swayed by Kalle and his smooth rhetoric. If she'd felt the same drawing that Olina felt for Ronon. . . .

Shaking her head, Olina pushed aside all thoughts of Gisli and focused on the moment. She was alive, had Ronon, and was the center of his attention. For tonight, it was enough.

oOo

Evan appeared in the door of the clinic shortly after Carson returned and subsequently left again. Shani glanced up at him, seeing the bruise starting to form on his jaw. "What happened?"

He chuckled mirthlessly, touching his sore jaw as he did so. "Ran into a brick wall."

Shani smirked at his dry tone, recognizing it from watching Javan return home after dealing with unreasonable village leaders. "Does this brick wall have a name?" she asked.

Evan rolled his eyes. "Solen Sincha." He glanced around. "Where's Beckett?"

"He took a walk," Shani admitted ruefully. "He was upset when he returned and said he wanted to clear his head."

"Don't blame him," Evan muttered. Rather than continuing that line of conversation, he met her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have anything for a headache, would you?"

She smiled at that and motioned him into a chair. He sank down, closing his eyes as he did so. She gathered the ingredients to make the herbal tea she'd learned to make years ago and studied him. Evan was accustomed to a steady way of life with little conflict, and the deep lines on his face told of days without any sort of peace. Shani had already realized that life on Sateda would never be like her life on Ataliya, but she did not handle the same pressures that Evan did. Resisting the urge to rub his shoulders like she used to do for her husband, she handed him a cup of tea and settled across from him.

He took a few sips of the tea. "Oh, that's good." When she raised an eyebrow, he grinned. "Maybe not 'good,' but it'll help."

Shani returned the grin. "I wish I could do more."

"I'll be fine." He gingerly rubbed at his jaw. "This'll be sore for a day or so, but I've taken worse from Teyla. What really got to me today was Sincha's arrogance."

Shani sat in silence as Evan continued to speak, telling her of the fight and what had happened. Finally, he shook his head. "I hated giving him that ultimatum, but something has to be done. And this is our home now. I'm not gonna let anyone threaten that, even if it's a guy who used to live here."

"Evan, you must understand that Solen is grieving for his memories of what Sateda once was." She leaned forward, taking his hand as she spoke. "This world was his entire life. He swore to protect it, and that is not an easy promise to break."

"I know." Evan sighed deeply and wrapped his fingers around hers. His thumb rubbed slowly over her knuckles, igniting something in Shani that she had never experienced. Her previous attraction for this man did not compare to what she felt now as he held her gaze. A small smile began to turn the corners of his mouth upward, and he glanced at her lips.

The door to the clinic opened, and Carson bustled through. "I'm sorry to be gone so long, but—Major!"

Startled, Shani pulled away from Evan and stood, carrying his empty cup back to the kitchen. Her cheeks burned, and she realized that she had just revealed her feelings for Evan to the man who was responsible for her well-being. A quick peek at Carson told her that the doctor also knew what had happened. He stood in the center of the room, glaring at Evan.

The major pushed to his feet. "Hey, Doc." He glanced at Shani. "Thanks for the tea."

"You are welcome." She offered a tense smile.

Evan stopped next to Carson, speaking quietly but still loud enough that Shani heard it in the small room. "I've already gone through one staring match today and won." He paused and then belatedly added, "Doc." Then, he left the clinic.

Carson nodded and, after Evan left, met Shani's eyes. "What was that?"

"He came in with a headache. I believe the tension of the day caused it." She busied herself with straightening her work area.

"Aye," Carson agreed. "Major Lorne took quite a blow to the face in tryin' to break up a fight."

"He told me."

Carson nodded and met her eyes. "I'm glad you were here, love. At least he's got someone to talk to."

Shani watched the doctor head to his personal quarters. Carson was only trying to protect her in this new world, but she felt oddly irritated that he would seek to protect her from Evan. After all, the major was a member of Carson's people. Did they not trust one another? Or was this a symptom of the strange ways of older brothers? She really did not care so long as Carson soon learned that Evan would never harm her. Not intentionally, anyway. If necessary, she would take Carson aside and speak with him about it. Until then, she resolved to allow the two men to work things out on their own.

oOo

Ronon walked through the streets of Sateda after leaving Olina in her home. He had not intended to bring up Gisli and the events on Kiah, but it had seemed like the right moment to make his point. After all, he faced a similar situation with Solen Sincha. Of course, Solen had not betrayed him in the way Gisli had betrayed Olina, but the concept was sound. But perhaps Olina was not ready to accept what had happened. Ronon hoped he was wrong because he knew how grief and bitterness could destroy a life. He had almost allowed it to destroy him.

Now, however, he had something else to do. The sun had set a few moments ago, adding long shadows to the streets as various people scurried to get home before the night got too dark. Ronon chose to use those shadows, keeping himself from being noticed as he made his way to the tiny home where Solen had set up shop. He had spoken at length with Sheppard after Lorne stormed off, learning how Solen spent all his days drinking ale he somehow concocted and causing trouble with the Marines. Ronon knew that fights were inevitable, but he had stayed so busy that he felt out of touch. The idea that one of his own people had caused such chaos stung, and he would confront the man.

Solen answered his knock with a mug of ale in his hand. "Ronon. Come to commiserate with an old friend?"

"No." Ronon's surly answer stopped the other Satedan in his tracks. "What happened today?"

Solen set down his cup. "They were desecrating the military academy."

"By removing debris so that they could check the stability of the building?"

Solen had the good grace to look ashamed. "Maybe I jumped to conclusions."

Ronon folded his arms. "You've been doing that a lot lately."

"They're not from here!" Solen's voice never rose, but his anger came through in his words. "They have no right!"

"They have every right." Ronon took a few steps forward, almost hissing in his irritation. "You don't know what these people went through."

"Do I need to know?" Solen asked. "Ronon, they're not Satedan! They don't know what this place means to us. They haven't shed their blood and sacrificed their honor for this world."

"They've sacrificed plenty," Ronon replied in a low tone. He hoped Solen would drop the subject and not push him to choose loyalties. The hopes that he would one day rebuild Sateda were coming to fruition, but he had gladly left the day-to-day management to Lorne. The major was better qualified to handle all of that, leaving Ronon free to train the Marines and continue doing what he'd done on Kiah. Now he realized his mistake. He met Solen's angry gaze with a steady one of his own. "Like I said, you don't know what they've gone through."

Solen laughed, though it wasn't a pretty sound. He'd had just enough to drink that his inhibitions had been lowered, making his temper a dangerous thing. "Surely you're not suggesting men like Major Lorne be allowed to lead us! That man has nothing better to do than to go around giving orders and then flying off with his Ataliyan girlfriend! Why would you follow a man like that? C'mon, Ronon! Think about this!"

"I have thought about it." Ronon dropped his arms to his sides. "You wanna know what Lorne has done? I'll tell you. He singlehandedly defended Kiah against an invasion when most of our men—me included—were on another planet. Because of him, we survived. More than that, we were victorious. Lorne is the one who turned the tide in a fight we could not win. You want to question his abilities to defend this city?"

Solen blinked. "I had no idea."

"No, you didn't." Ronon glanced around, wrinkling his nose. "You sit around here, drinking your sorrows away while he gets out there and works. That man, as you call him, has done more for Sateda in recent weeks than you have. So don't go trying to face him down. He has the loyalty of almost every person here."

"Including yours?"

Ronon hated admitting that he would choose a man from Earth over one from Sateda. "Yeah, including mine." He frowned. "Don't push it, Solen. You'll wind up on another world with nothing save what you came with. You wanted in on the rebuilding. Start rebuilding and stop causing problems."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll back Lorne." Ronon held the other man's gaze long enough to see the effect of his words. Then, he turned and slipped into the night.

~TBC