At Atlantis, I discovered, for the first time, that I could look towards the future and have a reasonable expectation to believe that it would be there.

-E-

He was pretty sure she'd left ten little bruises on his arm. Not that he'd complain, since he offered it to her to give her something to lean against. Said fingers were now uncurling from his biceps, and cool air met skin where the warmth of her forehead had just been.

She hadn't groaned in pain, bitten down, or given any other indication that the cut and stitches had hurt, other than the tightening of her grip around his arm.

"You're doin' fine, love. Just need to clean it up a bit, and you'll be all set. Teyla, take this to Rodney. Tell him to make sure the signal is shut off."

And just like that, the Wraith tracking device was gone. He remembered the sudden sense of freedom he'd felt accompanied by an undercurrent of disbelief. Undoubtedly, the same things were running through her mind right now.

"You visited Sarif Sur?" she asked, the barest hint of an edge to her voice.

"Many years ago. My people used to trade with them. One day, the city was gone."

If stillness made a sound, Ronon would have sworn he could hear it, because Eva did not move a fraction of an inch while he spoke. He didn't have to see her to know that she was rooted to the spot. Learned instinct told him that she was motionless.

"I want to see it," she said.

She rose from her seated position, and stumbled forwards. Without thinking, he reached out and caught her around her middle with his hand, steadying her before releasing her.

Better than he'd done. He'd passed out at Teyla's feet after the tracking device was removed.

Beckett would say it was because he didn't take the anesthetic. He'd probably be right, too.

That was another thing that was different about her. Despite her years of loneliness, she seemed more inclined to trust than he had. Were he in her position... he probably would not have lowered his gun.

Which is why when he'd found out who she was, he had. Because he knew, and he'd recently been re-freed from the Wraith again after being re-captured and forced to survive in the ruins of his homeworld.

"Sheppard will see to it back at Atlantis," he replied, leaning down to pick up her shirt. He handed it to her, and she accepted it gracefully and turned around.

That's when he saw the pattern of scars on her back. Beneath the freshly (and neatly) sewn one by Beckett's hand were the jagged scars of older cuts. Clean ones where the Wraith had obviously cut into her, implanting the device. And rougher ones, some higher, some lower, indicating countless attempts at seeking freedom. Some were wide and crooked. Others were neat and precise.

She also had a little round white scar on her lower back, near the right side, where a bullet had passed through. The skin puckered around the round scar, and a small line crossed over it where someone had cut in to remove the bullet.

She'd apparently had more luck than he had finding people willing to help her. Perhaps that was the reason why, despite her wariness, she hadn't simply tried to kill them all and be done with it.

Eva began pulling the shirt over head, but pitched forward. He stood up and grabbed her by her arms before she fell. She mumbled a thanks.

Instead of releasing her, he helped her pull the small shirt over her head. Once it was in place, he moved a hand to her shoulder to keep her steady while she did up the laces.

He took the time to study her tattoo.

An intricate affair, denoting her place of birth. He didn't know much about Surian symbols. After all, by the time he would have need to learn them, the Surians were gone. Overlapping circles representing the orbits of 3 planets wrapped around her arm, peppered with small dots - moons - and the ancient symbol for the stargate. He may not know much, but he did know that only older Surian clans carried the stargate symbol, which meant she was from an important family. Probably the daughter of a clan elder.

Her right arm was bare, indicating she'd never married.

Not that he expected she had, since she'd only been 15 when taken.

At least he'd been 22. Not much of a difference, but enough.

"If you're finished being all nice and friendly," Sheppard said, pulling him out of his thoughts, "then we can move out. Rodney, you better tell me that thing's destroyed, or I'm leaving you here with it."

"It's definitely deactivated, but I still think we should take it back with us. The Wraith use a unique subspace homing signal, and that kind of technology would be very useful. We might even be able to use this to turn the tables against the Wraith for once, track their -"

"No." His hand slid off Eva's shoulder as she turned around to face Mckay, voice hard. "Leave it behind."

Mckay stared at her, dumbfounded. "But you don't understand -"

"I'm inclined to agree with the lady," Sheppard interjected. "Ronon, destroy it."

"With pleasure," he replied. He held out his hand towards Mckay, and the doctor reluctantly handed the tracking device to him.

Ronon stared at it. Such a small thing to cause so much pain and suffering in one person's life. Not counting every person that suffered just because they'd had the misfortune to encounter a Runner.

He tossed it onto the ground and unholstered his gun.

But he didn't pull the trigger.

It wasn't his freedom that the destruction of this device was granting. It was hers.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sheppard asked.

Instead of answering, Ronon handed his gun to Eva. She met his eyes, and understanding swam in their depths alongside something else.

She clicked the gun's setting to incinerate and blasted the device, her eyes never leaving his.

AN: Good thing she took that anesthetic, otherwise she might be a pile of unconscious woman on the ground instead (much to an amused Ronon whose been there). And at last, she's free! What an immense relief that must be, after 12 years of running. Next chapter, we'll get to find out just what she's thinking! Definitely thoughts of rainbows and true love, and everything will be perfect.

Or, you know, real life ;) Thanks for reading, guys! See you next chapter!