A/N: Hello everyone! I'm pretty excited for this chapter and the next one as this is the kind of stuff I really love writing. I hope you guys like it, too. :)

I didn't get a whole lot of feedback regarding your opinions on my cute, not-so-plot-essential potential chapter and so after a bit of thought, I decided to scrap it. I figure we gotta keep the whole thing moving. Maybe I'll do a post at the end of this story of "deleted scenes" that didn't make the final cut (because I have a ton of them).

Anyway, I hope you like this next one. I do, if I do say so myself. Thank you as always for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it.

The sun was setting fast. They needed to get the fire started before it got too dark, too cold, and most importantly, before McKay got too hungry. Ronon picked up his pace and Eva, angry as she was, reciprocated, taking two quick steps for each of his. Arms full of kindling, they passed through the edge of the clearing and the sounds of laughter and lively banter met their ears.

"Over there," Ronon gestured to Eva. Sheppard, Teyla, and Rogers were already congregated in a spot that he considered as good as any to light their campfire.

They got closer to see Sheppard was filling a pot with water he had collected from the stream and Teyla was using a small rock against flagstone – like a makeshift mortar and pestle – to crush some leaves. Rogers was the only one not engrossed in her own task, as one of her hands was still occupied with holding the icepack to her injured leg. However, with her free hand, Ronon noticed, she was vigorously rubbing her other arm to ward off the chill of the evening. Sheppard had apparently noticed, as well, for he stopped pouring water into the pot, took off his jacket, and suspended it from his hand in front of her. She stared up at him for a moment, then accepted the jacket and drew it close around her.

"Thank you," she nodded.

He resumed his work, but continued looking at her. "Thought you'd be used to the cold, Rogers. Didn't you go to school in Massachusetts? Boston winters are pretty rough, from what I remember."

"Well," she smiled, "you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take the Texas out of the girl."

He screwed the cap back onto the jug of water. "Wouldn't want to," he smirked.

"And this doesn't help," she added, lifting up her icepack.

A pain in Ronon's jaw distracted him from their interaction and he realized he had been clenching his teeth…hard. He loosened it up and focused on setting his kindling down, trying his best to keep it all in a neat stack. He glanced back up and saw that Eva, eyes narrowed to slits, was looking back and forth disapprovingly from Sheppard to Rogers. Unceremoniously, she abruptly dropped her firewood to the ground and the branches scattered in all directions. Rogers jumped at the sound and Teyla frowned at the mess.

"I'm gonna go set up my bag," Eva barked as she walked away.

"What the hell is your problem?" Ronon called to her.

"I already told you!" she shouted back.

Ronon glared at Sheppard. "Remind me again why she's here?"

Sheppard opened his mouth to reply, but it was Rogers's voice who answered him instead. "I asked for her to come along," she said. "If we find anything pertaining to Janus, she may be able to recognize it. Out of all of us, she's the only one who's ever met him, who's actually ever seen an active lab of his."

Ronon exhaled forcefully, pushed his sleeves to his forearms, and began restacking the kindling Eva had dropped.

"Where the hell is my Chili Mac?!" McKay's voice shrieked from the perimeter of their campsite.

They all looked over in his direction to see him tearing the contents of his pack apart.

"Somebody took my Chili Mac!"

Sheppard sloshed the remaining contents of the water jug around. "Well would you look at that," he said with boyish innocence. "Think I'll fetch more water before it gets too dark." A few quick strides later, he had disappeared into the trees.

"Everyone knows the Chili Mac is the best of all the MREs and I called dibs!" McKay shouted. "So 'fess up, which one of you was it?"

Teyla stood up, brushed her hands on her pants and sighed. "I should go help Rodney. I have a feeling I know where his Chili Mac went," she said with a quick eyebrow raise. She extended the flagstone, covered in a greenish-brown paste, to Rogers. "Apply this unction to the bruise on your leg," she instructed. "It will alleviate some of the pain and help it heal more quickly."

"Thank you," Rogers smiled, taking the stone from her.

She nodded in her usual Athosian fashion before making her way over to a very pissed-off McKay.

Ronon returned to stacking the firewood until, out of midair, a branch appeared in the corner of his field of vision. He looked over to see Rogers standing above him and offering it to him.

"Thanks," he muttered as he took the stick from her. He watched her limp over to pick up a few more. "You don't need to help," he said, stopping her. "I'll get the last few on my own. You should keep resting that leg."

She handed him her branches, nodded, and carefully lowered herself back to the ground.

With the firewood recollected, he knelt down, dug a shallow pit in the Earth with his bare hands, and arranged a few pieces of wood into a tinder bundle. He then searched for a rock to use as flint and moss in place of char. He struck his knife against the flint and released a small spark.

He struck again and Rogers spoke. "We have matches, you know."

He looked over to her and wondered how long her eyes had been on him. "Don't need 'em," he grunted. He struck the flint for a third time and set the moss aflame. He brought it to the bundle of twigs, set it underneath, and blew on it to make the fire grow. He added a few larger branches and once the fire was well-stoked and crackling, he turned to look over his shoulder at Rogers who was still watching him intently. He rose to his feet in search of a large rock. Finding one that was adequate, he thrust it into the ground and it loomed like a tombstone at the edge of the firepit.

Rogers frowned. "What's that for?"

"It controls the smoke," he explained, then pointed to the darkening sky. "Directs it upward."

She tilted her head to the side with interest.

"I uh…" he rubbed his jaw with a dirt-covered hand, "I thought the smoke might bother your asthma."

"Oh." A small smile graced her lips. "It does. Thank you." She paused. "How did you know that's what it's called?"

"Eva told me."

"I see," she mused. "What's her deal, anyway? She seems more grumpy than usual."

"No idea," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Rogers raised a suspicious eyebrow. "She said she told you," she prodded.

Ronon sighed and added a log to the fire. "She thinks I put you in danger," he revealed.

"What? Why?"

"Says I waited too long to shoot the bull."

"That's ridiculous," she said, shaking her head. "If anything, I put you in danger. I put everyone in danger by thinking we could cross that pasture safely."

He shrugged. "We made it. Guess that's all that matters."

"I guess," she conceded. "Did she tell you anything else?" she asked with curiosity.

"Nope."

Rogers nodded slowly at his terse reply. Both were silent for a while after that, but she continued to watch him as he tended to the fire, the growing blaze popping merrily. An owl hooted lowly in the distance and the dry leaves, rustling against each other in soft susurrus, sounded almost like rain. Ronon eventually lifted his gaze, her eyes met his own and, in the dancing golden flames of the firelight, they glimmered like emeralds. "She told me they're happy," she whispered.

"Who?"

"Eva's parents. You and me."

He grunted in response and lowered his eyes again.

"Have you…" she started tentatively, "have you ever thought about me like that?"

He stared at the flickering flames and smirked. "I don't think there's a man on base that hasn't thought about you like that when he gets a little lonely," he answered.

"God," she scoffed with disgust. "Not like that!" She hobbled to her feet and started to limp away, ice pack in hand. "Never mind. Forget I even brought it up."

"Rogers, wait." He rose to his full height and grabbed her by the arm to stop her from leaving, but she immediately tore her wrist out of his hand and backed away. "Whoa," he said, alarmed by her repulsion to him. He held his hands up, palms outstretched in front of him in a gesture of goodwill, and took a step backward to give her some space.

"I…I don't like it when men touch me," she confessed, her breathing heavy.

He glanced down to see she was gently cradling her wrist and, though it could have been a trick of the firelight, thought he saw fresh bruises encircling it.

Following his gaze, she hastily pulled down on the sleeve of Sheppard's jacket to cover them.

"Okay," he nodded. "I won't touch you again."

She lifted her eyes, daring to look directly into his.

"Why are you asking me this?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Is it 'cause of this whole Eva thing?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Yes," she admitted.

"A few weeks ago, you said you didn't want to mess around…with anyone," he reminded her.

"I know. You're right," she agreed. "But…things have changed since then," she said quietly.

He raised his eyebrows. What things had changed?

"I know when we talked…" she took a deep breath, "we said there wasn't anything between us, but Eva is clearly proof that…that things could work out – really work out, Ronon." She looked down at the ground. "And I don't think finding the person I'm meant to be with is messing around."

Ronon looked away and shook his head. "Look, Rogers, you're smart and…and brave…"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, and he knew she wasn't convinced by what he was saying, though he meant it.

"But I'm sorry," he breathed. "The person I was meant to be with died ten years ago."

She swallowed hard and nodded forcefully and, without another word, turned to leave him to tend to the fire alone.

"Rogers," he called.

She looked hesitantly, almost hopefully, back at him.

He picked up the flagstone with the crushed leaves and held it out for her. "Don't forget this."

She first brushed the corner of her eye with the back of her knuckle, then took the stone from his grasp and walked away into the burgeoning darkness.

A/N: Thanks, everyone. :) Personally, this might be one of my favorite chapters. Let me know what you think!