Lennah sat at a desk in Steve Connor's office looking at a photo.

Colare and some techs, chief among them was Steve Connor, had set up a photo sharing community on an offshoot of the local information network later dubbed 'Soc-Net' (Social Network). It gave people a chance to play a part in Colare's assignment and quickly grew into public property. The majority of the base was participating. The rest banned 'Big Brother'.

A picture was worth a thousand words, true. But it seemed as though people wanted to misunderstand. Their comments were certainly good for a laugh.

It was a picture taken from lunch a few days back. She had met up with Sheppard to hear about his chat with Woolsey. John and Woolsey were still trying to lay out a plan for dealing with the slave trade. John wanted a military strike to make all of Pegasus aware of their intentions. It was bad enough they were treated like cattle by the Wraith, but to have humans do it to other humans was insult to injury. Teyla was equally ardent about abolition and she listened carefully as she took a seat.

Woolsey felt it was more diplomatic to post notices informing trade centers of a boycott of all peoples known to buy, sell, or keep slaves. He felt that might cause Atlantis enough trouble in the supplies department.

Sheppard fumed as he quoted him. "'Our place in the Pegasus isn't at all as stable as we'd like. At any moment, anything could go wrong. One bad tava bean crop and we're cut off from a majority of merchants, going hungry.' It's not like I want to lock up every slaver in the galaxy tomorrow, I just want to send a very clear message. The man is a pessimistic worrywart and I've had about all I can take of him."

Ronon plopped down next to Sheppard. "What did McKay do now?"

They'd laughed and someone took a picture.

It was no different than any other picture posted on the social net, friends enjoying themselves. But their personal history distinctly set them apart into 'us' and 'them'. Even the separated cells still clustered together to shelter from the scope of public curiosity. The pressure was mounting but it could only be a passing fad. Hiding away in one's room only fanned the flames of speculation. Thankfully, there were a number of people who could have cared less. McKay, Keller, Lorne, Beckett, and Zelenka, to name a few, were always welcome at their table.

Lennah stood and twisted. "I thought I'd be spending more time behind a lens or off-world than on a computer."

Connor shook his head at her. "Dear GOD, Lennie. Aren't you photographers supposed to be able to sit still for hours, waiting for that perfect shot?"

Lennah was upside down when she answered. "That's NatGeo. I'm more… Peter Parker."

"Ah," Steve turned his head to the side in an attempt to comprehend how she was folded over. "That explains a lot."

Lennah tumbled to her feet. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Steve went back to his computer. "Why don't you go see Sheppard about going off-world."

Lennah flopped back in her seat with a huge sigh. "Can't. They just got some down time." She glanced at her watch. Probably be up soon. Being on different schedules sucked. Her sleep cycle was all over the place. She'd collapse into bed only to have someone knock on her door saying things like 'morning' and 'breakfast'.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat." Colare waved to Connor and grabbed her coat.

It was very annoying, being noticed. It was essentially a small town and everyone knew what everyone else was doing. There was no escaping it.

Colare sat down and stared out the window. All she had to do was wait.

"We still on for sparring later?" Sheppard inclined his head at Ronon as they descended on her table.

"Yup." Ronon swallowed a shovel of food and pushed Lennah's chair a few inches to annoy her. She didn't especially feel like retaliating. Ronon gave her a questioning glance as he took a seat.

"What about you, Lennah. Any plans?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I was going to hunt down the new rec-center."

Sheppard grimaced. "It's not a 'rec-center'. It's an 'entertainment venue'. A place to get drinks, unwind, and meet people."

"Sorry, I forgot your special words."

He smiled over his coffee. "Who knows, you might even meet somebody, Colare."

She snorted. "You sound like my mother." She counted off her fingers. "Grandchildren, grandchildren, grandchildren."

"I agree with Lennah." Teyla nodded. "She's too young for anything more than casual sexual encounters."

Colare blinked and smiled, choking back a laugh. It would only be funny if she was joking. "Thank you, Teyla." She turned to John. "Did you set an opening date?"

John swallowed and nodded. "Just as soon as we find a place. We're gonna have a party so people know what it's about. The more people that like what's going on, the more they'll contribute."

"Sounds good. I'll go roam around a bit. See if I find anything."

"Don't get lost." Ronon tore into a roll as he shot her the eye. She really wasn't acting herself lately. She was more distracted than usual and hadn't hit him once. Something was going on.

Lennah laughed. "Like I could." She turned to Sheppard. "They're posting pictures of us doing nothing now. Like it's some secret meeting."

"Good going there, by the way." Sheppard waved a finger at her as he chewed. "It's good publicity for the party. We'll get to see what people expect and adapt. I posted a bulletin for location suggestions on the Rec-Roster."

"Not bad for someone with your track record with online socializing."

Sheppard pointed a carrot at her. "Hey. That was only twice and I had no understanding of the term—"

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Rodney stopped at their table and Teyla offered him a seat. "Oh, no, no, that's okay. I'm just her to answer your ad about the new rec-room." Lennah snorted.

Sheppard sent her a quelling look.

"What? What'd I say?" McKay looked around the table.

"Don't worry about it. Colare has the giggles. You say you found us a place?"

Lennah listened to the conversation as she picked off Sheppard's tray. She glanced at Ronon to see he was staring off into space again. Since she'd come back from P39-427, they'd each had their moments of unreachable trances. They'd spent only a few hours there but too many things could happen in such a short amount of time.

Ronon noticed her staring and she smiled, giving his elbow a nudge. He was the one person that didn't bombard her with excess emotions. Their bond was a silent, sometimes violent, camaraderie.

They clustered around the table until Lennah had to sneak off to late evening clean-up. The teams had down time but Atlantis still had to function.

While she wiped down tables and washed dishes, she could melt her brain with some music. She could be as alone as she wanted in the bubble of her ear buds. One minor drawback of thinking you're alone is dancing to something no one else can hear. Jose, one of the cooks, recorded her enjoying a mega-mix complete with yellow gloves and suds. It was a very popular video on Soc-Net.

Fortunately, sparing with Ronon was one thing she could do without thinking about a million different thoughts speeding through her brain. She let the fears take a back seat and let him lead her through the motions. She knew he was doing her a favor, there was no challenge to fighting her.

He knew she was distracted and didn't hit her too hard. But he would get bored of teaching and purposefully provoke her. That was when she'd loose control and end up hitting him too hard or walking into a real skull knocker. But they were always okay in the end, they both knew the other could take a hit.

"You're going to the thing tomorrow night?" he asked as he toyed with a pair of bantos sticks.

Lennah rubbed her face in a towel and blew out a deep breath. "I guess so. I can always leave early if Sheppard tries to fix me up with somebody." She laughed.

"You really think he'd try?"

Lennah shrugged. "Who knows? Best to be prepared, right?"

Ronon considered her with amusement. "Twenty bucks says he doesn't set you up with anybody." Lennah raised an eyebrow. "You have to stay the whole night. No sneaking off to hide in the shadows."

"I know better than to take that bet. If anybody knows anything about Shep's plans, it would be you."

"Okay then." He smirked. "I dare you."

Lennah shook her head and walked away when Ronon started laughing.

"He called it. Sheppard said you wouldn't be able to stick it out. You'd make up some excuse." Lennah stopped mid-stride as he spoke. "He said you were a geek in school. An outcast. You never feel like you belong because it's what your society taught you. So, he said, you'd sneak out after an hour or so."

Lennah turned on him.

"With your tail between your legs."