Hello again,

This chapter is another of the ones that I've had in my head since the first concepts of the story, well, the middle scene at least. I ended up tying a couple of chapter ideas together in this one, I think it worked well, even if it was a little stilted.

Hope you enjoy.

"and then I said to him 'Charles, put down the donkey and help me with the mermaid would you, she keeps trying to bite me"

"Mmhmm" Jennifer hummed

"and then the unicorn stole my jetpack and went... Jennifer"

"Mmhmm?"

"Jennifer you haven't heard a work I've said for the last 20 minutes and you've been fidgety all day" Nicky gave her a sympathetic smile when Jen finally blinked and blushed "it's ok, really, I get it"

"You do?" Jennifer asked, trying not to sound worried.

"Rumour has it you asked Ronon to teach you sparing"

"No... well yes, sort of" Jennifer stuttered "he talked me into it"

"Well, what normal human being wouldn't be nervous before starting their first sparing session with Ronon? And as the chief I bet you've seen a whole bunch of your 'predecessors' come through this med bay"

Jennifer smiled in relief before quickly smothering it and nodding. She was nervous about the session yes but it had nothing to do with her physical safety and everything to do with trying to keep it mentally together enough to not be a huge embarrassment as she is forced to relive her nightmare "you're right or course, I'm just hoping he'll go easy on me" Nicky's expression spoke volumes and Jen grinned ruefully "good point" she said with a groan "I'll make sure we're well stocked in suture kits and splints before I leave"

Nicky patted her on the back "you're shift ended 10 minutes ago Doc, I'll check the stocks, you go get ready for your 'sparing' session" Jennifer thanked her and decided to ignore how much the word 'sparring' had sounded like something akin to 'battle'.

Everything was going to be O.K.

Yeah Right.

Shut up brain.

"Hey Doc" John said from his position against the wall, looking much like he had just run a marathon as he stretched his legs.

"Jennifer" Teyla greeted her with a smile from the floor as she contorted into a stretch of her own.

Teyla studied a pale Jennifer, nervously wiping her hands on her shorts. The bruises had faded to nothing, bones were healed and what little of her back that Teyla could see because of her tank top seemed healed, albeit scarred, but Teyla wondered how healed she was within her heart "perhaps you would like me to show you some basic-"

"No, no, but thank you Teyla"

"Are you sure? It might help with the nerves"

Jennifer winced "that obvious?" Teyla decided not to answer, just giving her a sympathetic smile

"You'll be fine doc" John said, lending her support "Ronon's a good teacher, he'll go at your pace and besides, you're smart, you'll pick it up"

"Was that a complement Sheppard?" Ronon's voice rumbled from the door

"Nope, must be hearing things buddy"

"Wouldn't be the first time" Ronon beckoned Jen over to the far wall and she copied as he went through stretches "I must have been hearing things when I was in the mess hall and I heard you say I was a better shooter than you" Ronon call across the room

"Yup!"

Ronon chuckled and guided Jen to the thick practice mats "and then I must have been hearing things last week when you-"

"You should see a doctor about that Chewie"

"I am" Ronon said with a wink to Jennifer

As the brotherly banter died down and John and Teyla took a seat against the wall to watch Ronon began teaching Jennifer how to fall safely. Over and over again Jennifer made herself tumble until she had gathered enough bruises to satisfy Ronon.

Everyone watching Jennifer could see her slowly gaining confidence. Her movements were sharper, faster, and stronger and the tense expression of concentration on her face turned into a grin. Teyla and John murmured comments about the speed of Jennifer's improvement, Ronon just grinned with fierce pride. It was going so well that none of them would have predicted what would happen next; as Ronon moved them from lessons in footwork and leverage to a gentle sparing session Jennifer struggled to remember everything she had been taught to deal with the fist coming towards her. It took one foot out of step and Jennifer had fallen backwards, fallen into the dark cave, cowering from the shadowed man standing over her laughing maliciously.

Teyla held John back with a hand on his arm, her expression tense with both concern and expectation. John turned back to watch Ronon crouch in front of Jennifer.

Ronon's heart sank as he saw Jennifer scuttle away from him, pressing her back against the wall and freezing, her eyes squeezed shut in fear "Jennifer?" he said softly as he crouched in front of her, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. He restrained his growl of frustration when Jennifer whimpered as he laid a hand on her knee "you're on Atlantis"

"Ronon" she whispered on panted breath "I'm sorry, I know it isn't real, I'm just" she sobbed and reached out to grab his hand tightly "I'm so afraid I might be wrong"

"You're not" he paused but although tears fell from her eyes they stayed tightly shut "listen to the noises around you... do you hear that laughter in the distance? That's Radek, no doubt Rodney has done something ridiculous" the corners of Jennifer's mouth twitched slightly at the joke "and do you hear that hum? It's in every corner of the city. It use to keep me awake at night when I first arrived here but no one from earth seems to notice it. Is it always so noisy where you come from?" he watched as Jennifer's shoulders relaxed and her eyes slowly opened.

She stayed where she was as she answered him, letting her breathing slowly return to normal "Not everywhere no, but most of us are from cities. They can be very noisy" she gave a wan smile and mouthed 'thank you' to him before tilting her head against the wall in exhaustion "I guess this is the end of our session" relief and disappointment mingled in her words

"Nope" Ronon said and tugged her up by the hand he was still holding.

Jennifer groaned but allowed herself to be pulled to her feet "Slave driver" she growled at him

"You have no idea" John called from his spot on the floor.

Ronon flicked him a hand gesture he had learnt from spending too much time near Rodney.

The exhaustion that weighed on Jennifer as she tried to drag herself to her quarters was overwhelming and it was all she could do to keep one foot going in front of the other

"Jennifer" Rodney called out from behind her.

"No!" she called back "if you want something looked at you'll have to see one of the nurses Rodney, I'm off duty for the next 10 hours. I plan to sleep"

"John sent me" Jennifer looked at him blankly "its movie night" he said as if it was the most obvious reason in the world "he said to tell you it's compulsory"

Jennifer tipped her head back and groaned a muffled curse at all interfering men before turning and following Rodney back down the corridor.

"Jennifer! Good you're here, time to start the movie" John handed Ronon the bowl of popcorn and got up from the couch in the corner to put the movie in. As soon as he moved away both Rodney and Jennifer dove for John's seat; the only seat left other than the floor. Ronon's feet conveniently got in the way of Rodney and Jennifer dropped down with a grin as John turned to see Jennifer tucking her feet under her in his stolen seat "Hey! That was mine!"

"Finders keepers" Jennifer said and stuck her tongue out at him

John considered arguing some more but not only did Jennifer need the comfortable seat more than him but Ronon was giving a look that told him not to dare so he pretended to huff and took a seat on the floor as the lights dimmed and group settled in for the show.

"I don't care what you think Sheppard, Princess Bride is a classic and Mandy Patinkin is a genius"

"Yes yes Rodney, he's a genius" John said in hushed tones as he ushered Rodney towards the door but making it clear he didn't believe it. Rodney rolled his eyes and muttered something about there being no accounting for taste but Sheppard missed it as he closed the door.

Turning he surveyed his room and the popcorn everywhere before letting his eyes fall on the two other people left in the room. Jennifer had fallen asleep within 10 minutes of the movie starting and had somehow ended up sitting in Ronon's lap. Not that Ronon seemed to mind, in fact with his face buried in her hair and arms wrapped securely around her waist he seemed quite content to stay there all night.

That and the fact that he was asleep

John took a moment to study the juxtaposition before deciding to pick Jen up so she could sleep somewhere that didn't make her feel like a pretzel in the morning. John didn't even get close enough to touch the doc before he was forced to freeze. Right in front of him were the hard eyes of Ronon, void of recognition as he held a blade to John's throat "Ronon" John murmured softly, ignoring the sudden need to swallow as the knife remained tight against him "put the knife down Chewie, it's just me" he waved his hand at Jen as she started to wake and tried to explain his proximity in a neutral voice "I was just going to move the Doc so she could sleep easier"

"Ronon?" Jen mumbled against his neck, still dazed and relaxed from her sleep "why are you holding a knife to John?" John shifted his weight backwards slowly and watched in slight amusement as Jen finally realised where she was "wait, why am-" she blushed and sat up, forcing Ronon to break his stare and sheath his knife as she wiggled out of his grasp "I'm, I'm sorry, I must have... you should have..." she looked between the two men as she stood and realised something else had been going on "I'm missing something" she stated.

John shook his head "no, everything's fine" he looked her up and down, taking in her sagging shoulders, heavy eyelids and dark circles around her eyes "but you're not looking so hot" he said bluntly

Jen huffed "I'm fine" she said but couldn't look either of them in the eye, missing the identical eye rolls as she brushed wayward strands of hair from her face "it has just been a long shift". The boys watched as her mask slipped into place and she became distant and polite "if you'll both excuse me I'll be on my way. Have a good night" she nodded her head and walked stiffly from the room, fully aware of the two sets of eyes watching.

"You know she's lying" Ronon stated once the door had closed.

"Yeah" John replied with a sigh.

3 chapters and an epilogue to go!