Van muttered to himself as they walked to the field where the confrontation would take place. Lee patted him on the back and he sighed. "I can do this. I can do this," he repeated as they walked.

"Yes, you can because you aren't alone," Lee told him. "Wait for my signal, I'll count you down and we'll fire together. All right?"

He nodded and nearly choked when he saw the crowd gathered around the cleared area in the field. "I can't do this!"

Noble latched onto his arm when it looked as if he was going to bolt. "You aren't going anywhere, son."

Van grumbled. "It looks like rain, maybe we should postpone this until tomorrow or maybe never?"

Noble chuckled, led him into the ring and left him near the edge so he could move to the center. Yustyn stood on the opposite side of the ring, his arms folded over his chest as he stared at Van. Noble raised his hands for quiet. "All right, everyone, settle down. Today Yustyn will face this stranger." He indicated Van. "Who wishes to inspect the shrine left behind by those that brought us to this place. The rules of engagement are simple, the two will face one another across the ring, they will draw and shoot. One will live and one will die."

Van emitted an audible whimper.

Noble stepped out of the ring. "Gentlemen, this is now your game."

Yustyn dropped his arms with a grin. "Are you prepared to meet your maker, little man?"

"Since I'm a historian, linguist, and all that I don't prescribe to one religion per se, so I'm not sure to which maker you are referring." He knew if they were going to accomplish this it would have to be a precision operation. He needed to trust Lee. He grinned at Yustyn. "If I do meet my maker, whoever he or she may be, at least I know I speak enough languages that I'll probably be able to talk to whoever it is. Do you feel as confident about that?"

Yustyn snorted. "You are confident for someone who could be knocked over by the wind."

"We have a saying where I come from, don't judge a book by its cover."

"That makes little sense."

Van shrugged. "You shouldn't judge something based on how it looks. If that was the case then I'd assume you're nothing but an unintelligent thug who likes to use his muscles to intimidate those around you." He heard Noble's laughter at his words and had the feeling his assessment of Yustyn was spot on.

"I am done with this chatter. I'm not here to gossip like a woman," Yustyn growled.

"I will have to disagree with your assessment of this conversation. Nothing I've said can be construed as gossip. Everything I've said is a fact. If you'd like to argue that, well I'd be more than happy to continue the discussion." Van glanced back to where the others stood, he took note of the fact Lee was now missing from the spot where she'd been standing between Mal and Oliver. The earpiece crackled and he flinched.

"You there Van?"

He smiled at the sound of Lee's voice. "Mmm," he murmured quietly.

"All right, on three." Van's hand hovered over his gun while he waited for Lee to begin counting. "One. Two. Three," she counted in a calm, steady voice. As she said three, several things happened. Both Van and Yustyn pulled their weapons. It turned out that the other man was a fraction of a second faster than Van, though they both fired almost simultaneously, Van was quite certain his shot went wide. Still, Yustyn cried out, staggered back a step, and keeled over. Van was hit square in the chest and thrown back several meters. He didn't rise.

Mal gave a shout and ran to where Van lay on the ground. "Van, come on buddy, be all right." He found a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief. Lee appeared beside him.

"Is he alive?"

He nodded. "Yes, he was either knocked out by the blast or the fall. I don't know which."

Noble came over to where they crouched beside Van. "How's your friend?"

Van groaned. "Alive. I think," he said.

Noble chuckled. "It would appear we underestimated you, son."

Lee helped him to sit up. "Are you injured? That blast looked like it hit you square in the chest."

"It did and it hurts like hell," Van told her. "But I'm alive." He stared across the field at Yustyn. The man wasn't moving. "Is ... he um, you know?"

Noble slapped him on the shoulder. "Yes, he is. You have won the right to examine the shrine."

"Whoo, yay for me. Right now, I'm going to lay down and not move for a little while." He fell back to the ground with a groan.

Noble turned away with a chuckle to address the crowd. "This contest is over and a winner has been determined. We will celebrate both the win and Yustyn's life."

People began moving away from the field, chattering as they went.

Lee jumped up and went after Noble. "We appreciate that you've given Van the right to study the shrine, but I think we should get him home and have our medical personnel look at him."

Noble smiled. "Of course. He has won the right to study the shrine, whether it is today or months from now. He can return whenever he wishes to do it."

"Thank you. We appreciate that."

"He has proven himself. You can come by my office before you leave to retrieve the rest of your things." Noble patted her shoulder before he moved away after the crowd.

Lee turned and went back to where Mal and Oliver stood near Van who was still lying on the ground. "Noble said you could return at any time to study the shrine."

"Funny, but I don't feel much like looking at that thing anymore," Van replied.

Lee bent, grabbed his arm and hauled him up. "Let's go. You can rest up and decide later, cowboy."

"Har har, you are so funny. I want a nice long nap."

She wrapped an arm over his shoulders. "You got it."

"That was a hell of a shot, Captain," Mal told her.

"It's what I do."

"I'm glad that vest did its job," Oliver said.

"So am I. Very, very glad," Van told him.

"Let's go home," Mal said as they walked through town. They stopped to pick up their gear from Noble's office and then headed to the Gate.

"Someone owes me some pudding or something. I think I deserve it," Van told them.

Lee grinned. "Van, you can have all the pudding you want after that performance. I've been hit with a taser and that looked a lot worse."

"It was."

"You've been hit with a taser?" Mal asked.

"Senior year of high school," Van replied.

Oliver stopped in the middle of dialing the Gate to look at him. "How did that happen?"

"Captain of the football team had taken it upon himself to torture me throughout my time attending school. He decided that I should go out with a bang."

Lee scowled. "Wow, what a dick." She held up her hand. "Wait a minute, weren't you like fourteen?"

"No, I was fourteen when I graduated college."

"Whoa, wait that means you were like what, nine senior year of high school?" Lee asked.

He grinned. "Something like that, a little younger. I think to this day that guy fears my mother and he's probably still paying for that idiocy. She pressed charges and pressed hard."

Lee chuckled. "My kind of woman."

"Finish dialing, Oliver. Let's get home," Mal said.

Oliver nodded and finished dialing the Gate.

Van ran past them. "Me first!"

Lee chuckled and followed him through.

Mal grinned and shook his head. "After you." He gestured for Oliver to go first and then followed him through. When he stepped through on the other end he found General Carter waiting for him.

"Welcome home, Colonel, we were getting worried."

"Yes, well Van had to go and get himself into a shootout at high noon. We'll fill you in during the briefing."

"Of course. I'll see you there in an hour."

"Yes, ma'am. We need to get Van to the infirmary to get checked out first."

"And afterward, we will get Van a boatload of pudding," Lee said with a grin.

"You should get some pudding too. You did make that shot and save my ass," Van told her.

"Pudding for everyone," Mal said before he led them from the Gate room.