Anna returned to work after her chat with Caldwell in something of a haze. She sat at her computer and stared at the screen, her hands moving mindlessly. Nephthys was alive. She should have been dead, never to torment another soul again. Instead, she had found her way into the Pegasus galaxy and somehow taken control of a planet.

Anna understood just how easy that would be. If Nephthys had been planted in a host she found suitable, she could pick any medieval society in the Pegasus galaxy, demonstrate a few "miraculous" healings, and get herself set up as a goddess. With her penchant for attractive women, she'd already posed as several different versions of a goddess of fertility. Not that she necessarily wanted to be known as such. She much preferred death and mayhem to fertility. The process a living creature went through as it died fascinated her to no end. Humans, especially, warranted close observation. Their process of "setting affairs in order" amused Nephthys.

"Hey." Rachel touched Anna's arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Anna shook her head. "Why?"

"Ever since you came back from whatever called you away, you've been out of it."

Anna smiled at the other woman. She wasn't fooled into thinking that Rachel had always liked her. In fact, Rachel gossiped more than anyone else in this lab. She also had a thing for Lorne. Rather than reveal why she was so concerned, Anna merely shrugged. "I don't know. I've got a bit of a headache, and I feel like I'm thinking through a fog."

Rachel accepted that and went back to her work.

Anna continued to stare at her computer screen. She felt like she was living in a fog. The news that Nephthys was still alive shook the very foundation of her existence on Atlantis. Then, on the heels of that news, Evan left to rescue some of Atlantis's men from Nephthys. Anna wasn't angry at him for leaving. He was merely doing his job. She just worried about him. What if Nephthys captured him? What if she discovered that he carried the ATA gene?

Anna blinked at the screen, managing to push the fog aside for just a moment. Evan had the ATA gene? Somehow, in her shock-induced haze, she had called up a list of all Atlantis personnel who carried the ATA gene. The name "Evan Lorne" appeared just under "John Sheppard." She thought back to the times they'd spent together. He had never once operated anything that required the gene while she'd been around. Not even a Puddle Jumper. No wonder she didn't know.

She spent the remainder of the day comparing DNA strands and generally looking busy. By the end of the shift, Evan still had not returned, and she walked to her quarters in a vaguely dissatisfied mood. She figured she wouldn't relax until she knew he was back on base, but it bothered her anyway. Once in her room, she showered and changed, but her mind didn't settle as quickly as her turquoise dress settled around her ankles. Pulling on some strappy white sandals, Anna sat down at her piano and stared.

With Evan's painting hanging above her, she often liked to imagine that a part of him listened when she played. Now, nothing came. None of the music she loved would flow, and she couldn't seem to put the chords together. Too restless to sit, she jumped to her feet and walked to the window. Atlantis sparkled in the setting sun.

Some time later, an entry request jarred Anna from her thoughts. She opened her door and let out a small sigh of relief. "Teyla."

"Dr. Travis." Teyla stepped inside, looking tired. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not at all." Anna motioned for her to make herself at home. If Teyla had returned, then that meant Evan had returned. Right? "How did the mission go?"

Teyla moved her head in such a way that indicated so-so. "Good. We recovered our men."

Anna let out a sigh as Teyla moved to study the painting above the piano. "That's good to hear." She silently prayed that the other woman wouldn't notice the discreet "E. Lorne" scrawled in lavender paint on the lower right-hand corner of the painting.

If she noticed, Teyla gave no indication. Her eyes went to the piano. "I do not believe I've seen a machine such as this before."

Anna smiled, relieved to be back on familiar footing. "It's a piano, another musical instrument."

"It is?"

"Yes." Anna moved to sit down and turned it on. A few minutes later, she played the opening chords to Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turka."

Teyla smiled at the playful melody. "Perhaps you could play the entire piece for me sometime."

"I'd like that."

"I should go." Teyla headed for the door. "I wanted to let you know that we had returned safely."

"Thank you." Anna watched her leave from her place at the piano. Just knowing that Evan was back was great, but seeing him would make the day that much better. When he didn't appear in the few moments following Teyla's departure, she returned to playing the Mozart piece in an attempt to find something to celebrate. Atlantis's men had been recovered. That was good. Wasn't it?

Before long, she found her fingers straying from the melody of the sheet music and finding their way across the keyboard. The pace of the music slowed, and the theme became dark. Haunting. Anna briefly thought about Evan's suggestion that she write a musical journal but dismissed it. Not tonight. Tonight was for honest reflection and for waiting.

An hour later, another entry request pulled her from the music. Anna turned off the piano, grateful for a reason to be drawn away. In truth, the music and honest reflection had depressed her a bit, and she wanted to smile. She wanted her topsy-turvy emotions to find stable ground.

Evan stood outside her door, looking haggard and slightly angry. "Hey."

Anna smiled at him, grateful to see that he was okay. "Come in."

He stepped inside and looked around. His eyes paused briefly when he saw that she'd arranged her piano under his painting, but he didn't comment.

Anna suddenly understood why he had come. "What happened?"

He whirled. "Why do you ask that?"

"Teyla stopped by some time ago. She said you recovered our guys." Her eyes narrowed. "But that's not all that happened, is it?"

"No." He fell back on his matter-of-fact ways and met her eyes. "We lost Brandt."

"How?"

Evan shook his head and dropped into her couch. Anna watched him struggle, seeing the thoughts cross his face but not knowing how to interpret them. For the first time, she realized that her quiet friend wrestled with allowing others to see who he really was. She slowly sat on the couch next to him and took his hand.

He finally glanced at her. "Nephthys discovered that Brandt had the Ancient gene. She captured him and took him to her castle."

Anna's heart sank. "How bad was it?"

"Worse than you think." He squeezed her hand and tried to gently break the news to her. "Nephthys took him as her host."

Anna closed her eyes, memories of her time as Nephthys's host welling up inside. She had been young and naïve, an enthusiastic geneticist working on the greatest project the world never knew about. Brandt, however, was a trained military officer. He'd been in war and knew how to resist torture and interrogation techniques. The things Nephthys would force him to do caused Anna's experiences to pale in comparison.

Evan moved and slipped his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sat there, content to let the silence stretch. It had always characterized their relationship, and she saw no need to fill it with meaningless words. Tomorrow, there would be plenty of words spoken. Both she and Colonel Caldwell would probably be present to help devise a plan to free Brandt and keep Atlantis safe. For tonight, however, she sat on the couch next to Evan, taking comfort from his presence and listening to the silence.

~TBC~

Author's Note: A bit shorter than normal, but the characters needed this time. In particular, I felt that Anna needed to see Lorne when he was reeling from some sort of loss. This was going to be a part of Chapter 12, but the rescue and loss of Brandt just got too long. So, I made it into its own reactionary chapter. As always, let me know what you think. ~lg