I don't regret anything.

-E-

Ever since Mckay had woken up, he'd been nothing short of miserable. He fussed and whined and demanded.

Which is why she currently found herself standing outside in the rain. The cold water seeped through the layers of her sleeveless shirt, and the arm currently without protection prickled with goosebumps. Sooner rather than later, she'd be forced to go back inside and suffer his miserable company. But at least he'd been one thing that others so rarely had: kind. Despite his intolerable complaining, he'd yet to try and kill her.

As if on cue, he shouted from the interior of the cave. "Are you still out there?"

She suppressed a groan. Hopefully now he'd be more accommodating and less irritating. With a last quick glance of the land, she turned back inside the cave. It was a miracle she'd even found it in the first place. The overlapping rocks at the entrance meant they could maintain a small fire for warmth and light. Something Mckay had only been to happy about.

"Did you see my friends?" he asked her as soon as she rounded the corner.

"No."

He licked his lips. "Are you going to... hurt me?"

She eyed him as he sat with his back against the wall, as close to the fire as he could get. "No."

"Kind of terse," he grumbled. "Figures, I finally get my shot at being an intergalactic Kirk and the lady hardly speaks a word."

She cocked her head as he continued rambling. His mutters quickly got heated as she continued to remain silent. She sat down opposite him from the fire, and his eyes followed her to the ground. "Will they come looking for you?"

"Yes, but it would be easier if I knew where we are."

"About an hours walk from the ring of the ancestors. I cannot remain with you."

"Why not? I'd prefer to have company than be alone. Besides, the Wraith were killed, we just need to get to the gate and dial out before more return, and I'm certain..."

She forestalled him by raising her hand. "Are you familiar with the term 'Runner'?" His eyes widened, giving her all the answers she needed. "The longer I remain, the more likely the Wraith will find us here. As long as you're with me, you aren't safe."

He scrambled closer to her. "But we can fix that!"

The words chilled her to the bones. That wasn't possible. Once a Runner, always a Runner. Always. "That's not possible."

"No, no, it is! Very much so. I'd do it myself, but I'm not much of a Doctor. No, Beckett's more suited to that sort of thing. Not bothered by blood, either." He met her eyes once more. "We have a former Runner on our team. Ronon."

"Former Runner," she stated, the disbelief cutting through her voice like a hot knife. "Prove it."

Mckay opened his hands, eyes widening as he tried to think of how to do such a thing when what he clearly needed was for Ronon to magically appear at the entrance. She wouldn't believe it till she saw it. Every time she'd managed to have the tracking device removed, Wraith fell down upon her and whoever had helped with a vengeance. Most of her would be rescuers were fed upon while she was forced to watch. Sometimes over and over again until the victim expired from the strain of the feeding process.

The faces of the dead were burned into her memory. She didn't want to add Mckay to that list, not after she'd helped him to live.

And he'd been kind to her.

"I can't," he said, clearly distressed. He wanted her to believe. "I mean, I can tell you the science behind it, but I don't know that it'll do much good, or how much you'll understand. But suffice it to say that we have a lot of Ancestor technology, and we are very capable of removing the Wraith tracking device. You just have to trust us. Trust me."

She eyed him dubiously. Ancestor technology. Not many worlds she'd come across sported that. Maybe... maybe he could really do what he said. Dare she hope? Hope was such a foreign concept to her that she found she'd almost forgotten what it felt like. A warm seed melting the ice in her belly.

"Why would you help me?" She asked him. There was no reason for him to; he gained nothing. Most people had stopped helping her years ago.

"Because it's what we do?" The way he said it phrased as a question confused her. Was she supposed to understand that it was simply in his (and his companions) nature to help others, unreservedly, for no other reason than out of the goodness of their hearts? She highly doubted that.

Before she could reply, she heard a noise outside, barely audible above the sound of the rain hitting the leaves, running down the side of the ledge just beyond the entrance. A twig snapped. Eva removed her gun from its holster and slid towards the entrance, motioning for Mckay to be quiet. Something he (thankfully) did immediately, and grabbed his own gun from his jacket.

She wasn't exactly comfortable with him possessing a weapon while behind her, but if their position in the cave had been compromised, she'd rather have him armed than meet the consequences if he wasn't.

She crouched near the entrance and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. A shadow loomed near the entrance, carefully poised at the threshold. She held her breath, waiting for it to come just a little closer.

It did.

With a glance at Mckay, she clicked her gun to stun in case it turned out to be his friends. Hopefully she wouldn't regret that decision in five seconds.

The man casting the shadow emerged into the light, and Eva stepped out into the light, pointing her gun right at his dreadlocked head. She stared down the barrel of his, and neither flinched.

And Eva meets the team of Atlantis at last! But at gun point? Surely nothing can go wrong here... ;)

I want to thank everyone for the alerts and reviews :)