"Lieutenant James, get your ass down to the armoury now." Sheppards voice was curt and woke me from my sleep with a jolt. Looking through bleary eyes around the room I sat up, propping myself up on my elbow to find that when I moved my hand over the light switch, nothing came on. A black out? That's unusual, something's not right I thought. Reaching for my earpiece I hooked it over my ear and tapped it once,
"Was go-on?" I asked, slurring my words a little as I yawned,
"Just get to the armoury, I'll explain when you get here." he said curtly, signing off before I could ask anything else. It had been a quiet week, but I'd been plauged with sleepless nights. So consequently I had skipped out on the simple reconissance mission to look for a suitable alpha site today and caught up on some much needed sleep, checking my watch I was thankful it had a glow in the dark face. It was only four o'clock, surely that meant that the lights should be on? Standing up quickly, I shoved my feet into my boots and laced them up, redoing my hair so it was in a ponytail I walked to the door and waved my hand over the panel, my door however didn't budge. Frowning at it I tried again before I tapped my earpiece,
"Colonel Sheppard, I'm not going anyway sir, the door won't open, I'm stuck in my room." I said, trying not to let him hear the panic I was feeling. I was trapped in my own room, I mean, what the heck was that all about?! I heard Sheppard huff,
"We'll swing by and pick you up then, hang tight and be ready to leave." he ordered. Sighing, I heard him sign off again and resorted to pacing my room.

It took them fifteen minutes before finally the doors slid open, revealing Sheppard and a few marines I didn't recognise while he thanked Rodney over the radio. Sheppard tossed me a vest that I slipped on and quickly clipped it up, catching the P-90 he tossed my way. I always kept my sidearm on me like most of the military officers did so that was not a problem. "Okay so we have a replicator running round base, have you read anything about them?" he asked. I frowned a little,
"Erm...sort of robotic lifeforms with the appearance of human bodys, unable to feel emotion and made of nanites right?" I asked. Sheppard nodded once as we walked,
"Exactly, a group got trapped in subspace or something like that and invaded our computers, almost blew the circuits so Woolsey said they could make bodies for themself so they could ascend...it's really complicated. Either way, one of them is supposedly Doctor Weir and frankly I believe her, but one called Koracen is off and running about. Our job, track him down and kill him, and believe me when I say that they take a hell of a lot of bullets." he said wryly. He looked severely bothered by all of this, his hazel eyes looked troubled and his whole demanour was unusually tense. Doctor Weir had been a former commander of the Atlantis expedition, a thumping good one to from what I'd read since being here. Clearly seeing her again was hurting him. Well it was bound to considering they had mourned her death and it was on a mission he was commanding that she died, and now suddenly here she was again.

I nodded once,
"Okay, so...why are we in the dark?" I asked. He rolled his eyes at me,
"Koracen cut the power." he replied simply. I nodded once and Sheppard hesitated ever so slightly before looking at me and flicking his glance to two marines behind me, "Take Brady and Larson to make a trio. You're in charge of that search team." he said. I blinked a little, shock running through me, he wanted me to lead them? "I know you can do this Lieutenant, don't let me down." he said turning and walking away before calling over his shoulder that we were to search the western corridors. Turning I looked at Brady and Larson, who stared back at me stoically,
"Er...ma'am?" one said awkwardly. I raised an eyebrow,
"I'm not that old, who's who?" I asked. The big black marine with burly forearms and sparkling brown eyes pointed at himself,
"I'm Brady, that's Larson." he said, pointing at the smaller and younger white marine beside him with the sea green eyes and a shocking head of curly blonde hair. Guess someone never caught wind of the cropped short military hairstyle. I nodded my head once,
"Nice to meet you, I'm James. Come on then let's get searching, you know the drill I presume, keep your eyes peeled and keep checking you perimetre, I want nothing sneaking up on us. Oh and stay close to one another." I ordered before we moved down towards the corridors. It was kind of fun really, like an egg hunt only a hell of a lot more dangerous. The dark had never bothered me, the dark mixed with thunderstorms was scary as hell yes but not the dark on it's own.

With our flashlights held infront of us we swept our surroundings thoroughly, there was only one more corridor to check as we walked down it cautiously. Sheppard radioed me for the scheduled check in.
"How is everything your end Lieutenant?" he asked, voice crisp and tense. I sighed a little,
"Nothing sir, anyone else seen hyde or hair of him?" I asked. I didn't hear Sheppard's reply, because something ran out infront of our flashlights and made us all stop quickly. "Shh for a second." I said quickly. When I listened I could hear footsteps, and using a few quick hand signals I coordinated us to take off in a formation. I quickly left Larson and Brady behind, slightly infront of my time, "Koracen!" I called out. Rounding the corner I saw the man there. He was dressed in clothing unlike anything I'd ever seen, his movements were slow and calculating, "Sheppard we found him." I said, raising my gun and taking aim, waiting for the order. There was a pause over the radio before Sheppard asked,
"Where are you?" Larson gave him an exact position as we stood in a line. Koracen just looked at us through emotionless blue eyes that only seemed more glittery thanks to the light of the flashlights. "Okay, we're on our way. If you get the shot take it Lieutenant." Sheppard ordered grimly. I didn't answer, just signed off. Koracen must have heard the order, because he turned on his heel and fled. My reaction was quicker than he anticipated though and I was already firing as I gave the order to take the shot. Our gunfire echoed through the hall but I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, Sheppard was right when he said they took a lot of bullets to take down. I was reloading when Brady called it,
"He's on the move!"
"Follow, we aren't losing him now!" I ordered. I knew what this was, I had slipped into the other me.

This was the hardcore military office that didn't stop, even if she had a bullet in her leg three broken ribs blood pouring form practically every pore in her body and two of her teammates, people under her command at the time lay dead on the floor either side of her. Pushing myself to go faster I lifted my gun and fired as I ran, Brady and Larson copied my movement, flanking me until Koracen knew we had him cornered and turned. We stopped abruptly so as not to run into him and fired once more, every bullet we had. "Aim for the head!" I yelled mercilessly, glaring at Koracen now. I took the time to reload when I heard Brady's yell,
"Oh shit he's doubling back, he's doubling back!" Lifting my head I quickly finished reloading and fired again,
"Fall back, back down the corridor go go go!" I made sure they were clear as I half jogged backwards to make sure they were covered. When I heard their cover fire, I turned and sprinted for the cover of the corner wall with my heart racing and adrenaline pumping. I wasn't fast enough though, and a startled cry escaped my lips as a hard body smacked into mine and tackled me to the floor. Rolling quickly to the left I tried to lift my gun but I couldn't do it in time. Koracen knocked the gun from my hand and it went flying from my hand, while his fist came flying at my face. He was faster and stronger and wasn't going to tire anytime soon,so I needed to get up off of the floor. Swinging my legs around I swept his from under him and jackknifed to my feet, Brady and Larson weren't daring to fire anymore incase they hit me but I could see they looked pale, they didn't expect me to live through this. I felt a foot hit my back hard, knocking the wind out of me and knocking me to the floor. I went down hard, gasping for air as my heart leapt into my throat.

This could be it for me, I realised, but I'd be damned if I went down without a fight. Gritting my teeth I tried to push myself up, but Koracen's fist struck my head hard and sent me toppling back down to the floor, where my head smacked off of...whatever the floor was made of. I was seeing stars by this point, blood dripping from my nose as my body was rolled roughly by a boot. Koracen lifted me up by the collar of my shirt and looked at me with cold eyes,
"You would kill me without hesitation, without regret." he said it callously, as if I was the monster. Breathing hard I glared defiantly up at him,
"Actually, yes I would." I gasped when his fist came down hard on my head, once, twice. God he's crushing my skull I thought as black spots swarmed the edges of my vision. But I wasn't going down yet, my body was ready to give up but Koracen was heading for Brady and Larson next, and I couldn't have that. Rolling onto my front I crawled slowly across the floor, praying I'd make it in time. My fingers closed around the cold metal handle of the gun and I dragged myself to my knees, using the wall to steady myself as a severe dizzy spell struck, I focused my aim on the back of his head, my finger poised over the trigger as Sheppard and his team rounded the corner, "Hey arsehole." I called, hating how shaky my voice sounded. Koracen turned and looked at me with a stoic expression. "I told you I would." I said. Gritting my teeth I pulled the trigger, and sent a bullet right through his nanite head. Silver nanites sprayed the floor behind him and he crumpled to the floor, not destroyed but severely disabled at least. I could barely see straight as Sheppard, Brady and Larson ran forward. But it was too late for me and the dizziness was overwhelming. My face and hair wet with blood I pitched forward and landed in blisfully painless darkness.

John's Point Of View:

She collapsed to the floor right infront of us after putting a bullet through the back of Koracen's head. I was one of the first at her side, if you didn't count Brady and Larson who were watching her worriedly. Her face was bloody thanks to the oozing cut in her hairline and above her eyebrow, and her cheek already swelling. She was going to have one hell of a black eye after this was over and she wasn't concious anymore. Larson had already dropped to his knees and was feeling for a pulse as me and Brady knelt beside him,behind me I could hear Teyla giving orders and people shifting Koracen out of the corridor with some of the nanites that had blown from his skull.
"It's a weak pulse sir she needs the infirmary now." Larson said, his brow creasing gently. I nodded once and pushed my arms under her legs and back, pulling her up to my chest I left Larson and Brady to clean up the rest as I walked swiftly back down the corridor. Lorne's team were just retreating but I quickly over took them and carried on to the infirmary, Tegan was completely limp in my arms with her right arm hanging in mid-air as I carried her. Her head was lolling on my shoulder and some blood was beginning to seep through onto my vest. A knot of worry was forming in my stomach, twisting and tightening with every step as her face paled. She wasn't too warm either and I was worried we were losing her, it wouldn't be the first case I'd heard of where someone had been beaten to death, it was remarkable she had managed to hold on long enough in order to shoot Koracen.

Walking in to the infirmary I called for Keller,
"Doc! Doc I need your help here! It's James, she had the crap beat out of her by that replicator, her pulse is pretty weak." I said quickly. Keller's eyes widened upon seeing the state she was in before directing me to a bed and calling for one of the nurses to help her, before she started rushing around and snapping rubber gloves on as she called out orders. It was all the usual things like set up a drip, fifty miligrams of so and so, prepare for a blood transfusion...hang on a blood transfusion? Deciding to wait until after she'd saved the young Lieutenant's life to question that I stood in the background, waiting impatiently and trying not get in the way. What was so intriguing about this woman? Why did I feel like I needed to know her, everything about her and the secrests she was hiding? She said that she was hiding in Pegasus essentially, she hadn't planned on staying at first, she said someone was going to try and murder her. Who? Why? Could we help? Fifteen minutes passed and I shifted my weight so it was more comfortable for me to stand. Tegan was now hooked up to an IV drip, a blood transfusion was busy piping the red liquid through a tube into her right arm and her face and neck had been cleaned of blood. Her usual tan complexion was ashen and pale though, making her dark brows stand out on her face. Keller came over to stand by me and gestured to the bedside,
"She won't break if you move closer you know." she sounded slightly amused and I cleared my throat, awkwardly. Feeling a little stupid I did step closer, frowning down at the pale woman infront of me that had captured my attention. Whether that was a good or bad thing I didn't really know, however I felt as if a part of me was drawn to her, needed to know her and be around her. She was closed off and didn't like revealing herself to the world, but I wanted to be the one who could open her up, to be the one that she could trust with all her secrets until my insatiable thirst for knowledge was quenched.

God I sounded pathetic didn't I? "Well I patched her up as best I could but that was one hell of a beating she took. She's going to have a black eye, that's for sure, and her cheek bones fractured. Quote frankly she's lucky her nose isn't broken but she lost a lot of blood from various cuts on her head, hence the transfusion. Head wounds always bleed pretty badly though, so it seemed a little worse than it was. She'll be back on duty in maybe three or four days but until then she's going to need a lot of rest." Keller said, shaking her head slightly. The lights came on then and a team of nurses began moving around the torches that had been lighting the place up. My earpiece crackled and Teyla's voice came through.
"Colonel Sheppard, Elizabeth has disabled Koracen for us. We are meeting in Mr Woolsey's office now to discuss how to proceed, can you join us?" Can, she asked. Can you join us rather than we'll be waiting for you to join us. She knew I was in the infirmary with Tegan and she knew I wouldn't leave until I knew she was going to make a full recovery, Tegan was part of our team now and it was just one of the things I did to try and look after them. Tapping my earpiece I replied,
"Okay I'm on my way now."
"Will Tegan be okay?" Teyla replied immediately, and stupidly I nodded before realising she couldn't see me.
"Yeah, the Doc says she'll make a full recovery." I assured her. Teyla said something that sounded like good and signed off as I took one last look at Tegan and left, promising myself I'd stay away from a woman who made me far to curious for my own good. Somehow, I really thought that was a pie crust promise.

Tegan's Point of View:
The blackness was comforting, like I was enevloped in a giant cushion pressing in on me from all sides. Above me was the surface, but I was trapped in a cushion of darkness and it wouldn't let me pull my way to the top. Maybe it would be better I thought, Maybe it would be better to just give up. To just stay in this comfotable blackness forever, no health problems or sleepless nights, no voices telling me what to do or that I was yet again in danger, no one to distract me or taunt me or try to make me open up to them...it sounded blissful. I would have to worry about no one but me and I would never have to wake up again. But Rodney...My heart twisted painfully, I couldn't leave Rodney behind. He knew everything about my past, from the murder to the life threatening circumtances right now. Murdale wouldn't Have come back for me if I was dead though...Teyla's face flashed through my mind next. We'd been getting closer, sparring sometimes together and I was beginning to trust her, her and Sheppard too. John Sheppard, with his touseled hair and all seeing hazel eyes. How could I leave him behind? I had trusted him with things only Rodney knew, he made it so easy to open up to him and yet I barely knew him. It was disturbing how I could trust a stranger so easily, yet something about him drew me to him. Maybe it was the quick wit he possessed or the way that he promised confidentiality if you needed to confide in him. He was a man with secrets himself, that was clear. He wasn't open about his personal life and hated talking about emotions, the one thing we had in common. How could I leave behind the people I was beginning to call friend? The only real friends I'd ever really had if I was being brutally honest. The blackness seemed to loosen around me, allowing me to float a little higher toward the surface. I was so close, almost back in the land of the living, back to my painfully annoying existence, though it was admittedly becoming more bearable with my new friends about.

I made the decision right then, I was going to let them in. I was going to trust Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard, I was going to make friends, proper friends that is and live a more open life. Emotions were still an icky subject but I was going to try and make proper friends that I could trust and confide in. The blackness just completely let me go then, letting me rise to the surface until I regained my senses. My nose was burned by the smell of antiseptic and latex, I could taste it on my tounge and it was bitter in my dry mouth as I tried to swallow. A gentle finger pried back my eyelid and a blinding light entered my iris. I flinched, twisting my head to get away from it and groaning, blinking to get the little spots out of my left eye.
"Ah, there she is, welcome back Lieutenant. How are you feeling?" asked a familiar, kind, feminine voice. Blinking a little I looked up to see Doctor Keller smiling down at me, as she checked me over I opened my mouth to say something but my voice came out scratchy and croaky.
"A..chey...ugh." Keller smiled a little, helping me sit up and passing me an open bottle of water. My hand was shaky but I took it and gulped the cool liquid down. God my face hurt, it felt swollen to. Actually my right eye was swollen so I was squinting through it, and god my cheek was throbbing. "God I feel...terrible." I whispered, shielding my eyes from the light. Keller laughed a little,
"You took the beating from hell, you're going to feel terrible for a while." she replied while smiling slightly. That was when I noticed that Rodney, Ronon, Sheppard and Teyla were all in the room watching me. Rodney looked relieved I'd woken up, as did Sheppard. Teyla and Ronon were talking quietly to one another in the corner, but when she saw me she smiled graciously and they stepped over. My whole team was soon crowding around the bed.

"Well, as far as I can see you're fine for now. We'll keep you overnight just so you rest up and release you tomorrow. I'll leave you to it and order some lunch, sound good?" she asked. I nodded a little,
"Thank you Doctor Keller...er..." she raised an eyebrow at my pause and I blushed a little. "Can I have the strawberry jelly please?" I asked sheepishly. She snorted but nodded,
"Alright, strawberry jello coming up." she promised. When I turned around Sheppard and Rodney were smirking. Ronon and Teyla looked a little confused and I guessed this was their source of amusement,
"What is the difference between the jello in the mess hall and this jelly you want?" Teyla asked curiously, Sheppard chuckled,
"Just the way the British say it Teyla. The majority of us here are American so we call it jello, however if your British you call it jelly." he said, gesturing to me on the word British. I rolled my eyes a little,
"Yes yes lets all mock my nationality, hillarious." I grumbled. Sheppard smirked at me in reply and shrugged innocently,
"Well I'm sure we can get Keller to find you a crumpet if you're that proud." he teased.

With a huff that made my cheek ache I crossed my arms over my chest,
"Says the man who probably wanted to move to Los Angeles and become a famous actor when he was twelve." I replied with a smile, grinning caused too much pain. Sheppard opened his mouth to say something but shook his head,
"You win I can't think of anymore." he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and looking dissappointed, scuffing his boot off the floor like a child. A small laugh escaped my lips, I had enjoyed the friendly banter. That's when a sudden thought struck me,
"What happened to Koracen?" I asked. Rodney cleared his throat,
"Elizabeth made a plan with us, we sent them through a space gate and froze them somewhere remote enough that they'll never be reactivated again. All of them are gone." he said, watching as Keller bought my lunch over and put it on my lap. I quickly thanked her and watched as she gave Rodney a pot of blue jelly (hey my roots will always be British what can I say), with a shared glance and smile that meant only one thing. "Oh yeah and Elizabeth got him back for you, she deactivated his nanites." he added, shovelling the jelly into his mouth. I nodded a little, a thoughtful frown on my face.
"Good to see your okay Tiny, I gotta go meet some marines for sparring lessons." Ronon grunted, lifting his hand in a wave and leaving.
"Try not to break too many, Keller won't thank you!" Sheppard called after him as Teyla bowed her head,
"And I must see to Torren, my free hour is almost up." she said. I nodded sadly,
"Okay, thank you for coming." I said with a smile as she turned and left, leaving me with Sheppard and Rodney.
"You pair are so flirting." Rodney snorted, swallowing more jello down.

The statement made me choke on my sandwhich and, eyes watering, I had to swallow a lot of water down and have Sheppard hit my back hard.
"We are not!" me and Sheppard protested in unison. Even if I had to choke the words out. Giving him a nod of appreciation, me and Sheppard glared defiantly at the scentist who smirked,
"Look at you both, you could be twins." he teased,
"Rodney." Sheppard growled.
"How about you and Keller?" I shot back. Rodney's smile faltered and he swallowed, not meeting my eyes as he replied,
"Nothing there, we're just friends." Sheppard smirked a little as I giggled,
"Oh yes so spontaneously getting you your favourite colour jelly and that smile when she gave it to you was nothing. Not to mention the glance you shared and the oh so romantic touch of her hand on yours as she pulled away. Right, nothing." Sheppard chuckled,
"You are cruel." he said looking at me with a grin. I smiled and shrugged a shoulder self depreciatingly,
"I prefer the term observant." I replied modestly. As I took another bite of my sandwhich, Rodney scowled at me,
"Oh yeah? Well the glances you two keep sneaking at each other, how'd you explain that?" he came back smugly with a triumphant grin. I blinked at him unable to come up with anything, but thankfully Sheppard stepped in,
"She just had the crap beat out of her by a replicator, I keep looking at her to make sure she doesn't start deteriorating." he replied cooly. Rodney raised a brow, triumphant smirk growing bigger.

"Jennifer said she's going to be fine." he countered. Sheppard shrugged,
"She's a member of my team, I look out for my team. And you just called the Doc Jennifer." he pointed out.
"It's her name." Rodney shot back,
"But we all use Doc or Keller, you're on first name basis." Sheppard retaliated with a gleam in his eye that was almost daring Rodney to challenge him. Rodney scowled at the ground,
"Yeah well, Captain Kirk always falls for the beautiful women." he muttered under his breathe. I smiled a little,
"Oh Rodney, that's true friendship right there, I look like shit and you're telling me I'm beautiful." I said teasingly. he smirked,
"I was talking about Jennifer." he replied tauntingly. Sheppard rolled his eyes,
"So you admit you think the Doc's beautiful? Thought so, and no offense but James here isn't really my type." he replied casually. Ouch, okay I had to admit that stung a little. I had no clue why because I knew there was no way in hell he'd ever be interested in me. Unless I wanted him to be interested in me? Was that the case?

I didn't know but I swallowed the unexpected hurt that run through me and didn't let it show on my face. Rodney huffed and left with a quick 'I'll check on you later', which left me alone with Sheppard, who looked at me and nodded a little, "Good to see you're going to be okay Tegan, I have to go do some paperwork so I'll see you later." he said, lifting a hand in farewell and walking to the door with that authoritive stride only he could manage. He paused at the door, his hand on the frame, and looked back over his shoulder with a frown. "He's right you know, you don't look that bad all things considered..." he trailed off before dissappearing from sight. Didn't look that bad? Was that a compliment? Settling back into my pillows I finished my lunch with a small smile on my face. If I didn't look that bad by Sheppard's standards after I'd been severely beaten, then I must have been doing something right with myself over the years. Huh, compliments from Sheppard, I could get used to that I thought.I could really get used to that.