Silent tears were still running down Tegan's cheeks as she sat in Sara's tent an hour after Sara had carried her there. Sara had held her for a long time, just letting Tegan cry into her shoulder. Tegan couldn't wrap her mind about what had happened. She'd never imagined that it could happen. She was walking back, then he hit her and she was on the ground under him. It happened so fast.

But Sara had come to her rescue. Sara saved her from something terrible. Sara was holding her, gently hushing her and rubbing her back, comforting her as best she could. But then one of the sergeants who had taken Carter away came in.

Tegan sat up and pulled away from Sara quickly. But the sergeant didn't look phased.

"Colonel Clement," he said sharply, saluting Sara as she stood and returned his salute. "What do you want us to do with Carter?"

"Take him to the medical wing and keep him in cuffs there. Post a guard for the rest of the night and tomorrow. I'm writing up his discharge letter tonight, and I'll be calling the general in the morning about sending him home."

"Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you, Colonel?"

"Yes, actually. Find Sergeant Quin's cot and bring it in here. I want her to stay here until she's ready. After what happened she needs a place where she feels safe. This way she won't have to walk to her bunk alone. Also, send in a medic. It looks like her lip is going to need stitches." Sara nodded, ushering the sergeant out.

Tegan was taken aback. She didn't expect Sara to offer to let her stay with her. She was worried about walking around camp alone. Just the thought of weaving through the tents in the dark alone…. It sent shivers down her spine.

"I figured you'd want to stay here," Sara said gently, sitting back down next to Tegan. Tegan nodded and let out a shuddering sigh.

"I… I couldn't go out alone." She held back tears, pushing down the memories. She bit her lip, then winced. When Carter had hit her, he busted her lip open and it hurt a lot. She had managed to stop it bleeding, but Sara was probably right about needing stitches.

Tegan watched Sara as she moved to her desk and started typing up a letter on her Army issue laptop. Tegan hadn't realized how strong Sara still was, strong enough to tackle a full grown man twice her weight. But looking at her now, Tegan could see it. The muscles in her forearms flexed under her pale skin as her hands moved across the keyboard. Tegan's gaze ran up her arms to her toned biceps and her broad shoulders. Tegan couldn't stop herself from staring. Her eyes wandered to Sara's neck and all the things she'd imagined doing to that neck.

"Tegan," Sara mumbled. Tegan sat up straighter. She'd never heard Sara say her first name. Sara had always called her Quin. It had been sort of an unspoken agreement between them that they wouldn't use each other's first names. It made things less personal, and at least for Tegan it kept her from getting too attached. But Sara had broken that, and Tegan wasn't sure what to say.

"Yes, sir?" was all she could manage to reply.

Sara whipped her head around and looked at Tegan. She gulped. She hadn't meant to say Tegan's name out loud. She wasn't supposed to do that. She was her superior, she couldn't just throw her first name around like it was nothing. But she had said it, just loud enough for Tegan to hear. It was out there, and now Sara had to give an account for why.

"Um, I… I, uh…." She stammered about, trying to think of something to say beside what she had actually been thinking. What she wanted to say was that she had been scared out of her mind for Tegan when she realized what was going on and that she wanted nothing more than to hold her until Tegan was calm and safe.

Instead she said, "I just wanted to ask if there was anything I could get for you. To make you more comfortable." Bullshit, she thought to herself.

"No, sir. I'm fine, thank you," Tegan replied. It hurt Sara's heart that Tegan had to be so formal around her. But she knew there was nothing else to be done.

"Medic," someone said outside the tent. Both woman jumped a bit, forgetting about stitching up Tegan's lip. Sara called him in, and he got straight to work.

"Lay down, Sergeant," he said gruffly, pulling up a chair to sit so he was leaning over her head at the end of the cot. It was pretty obvious he had been woken out of sleep and wasn't too happy about having to give stitches at 0-dark-thirty. He quickly sterilized Tegan's cheek, preparing to give her a local anesthetic. He gave her a shot quickly, then inspected the cut while he waited for it to kick in.

"Jesus Christ," he mumbled. "I'm surprised you got this stop bleeding. It's pretty damn deep, Quin." Tegan was on the verge of tears again, and she glanced over at Sara. She had turned her chair around to watch what was going on. But when their eyes met, Sara could feel that Tegan needed her. Even with the anesthetic, this was going to hurt.

She got up and sat down next to Tegan on the bed, daring to slip her hand into Tegan's. "Squeeze my hand when it hurts," she excused. Tegan just nodded as she watch the medic thread the stitching needle. She squeezed Sara's hand before he even started, and Sara's heart fluttered. She gently rubbed her thumb over Tegan's knuckles, trying to soothe her pain.

Tears ran down her cheeks as the needle pierced her already tender lip. She shut her eyes hard, focusing on the feeling of Sara's hand in hers. The touch of her calloused thumb, her warm palm in Tegan's. She took deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Almost done, Quin." Sara's voice broke the silence, her voice comforting Tegan as much as her words. In a few seconds, the medic tied up the last stitch and packed up. Six stitches on the outside of her lip, and two on the inner layer. The medic was gone before Tegan could get out a thank you.

Sara didn't let go of Tegan's hand until the sergeant came back ten minutes later with Tegan's cot.