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John lay on Kai's narrow bed, staring up at the ceiling. His arm was asleep, long past being able to feel the faint tingle of his fingers. But he would be damned if he would move before Kai made him. It had been too long since he had held her like this; too long since he felt her relaxed and vulnerable, trusting him instead of holding herself apart from him with distrust and wariness in her eyes.

After the outlet of emotion Kai had fallen asleep a couple hours before, curled against him. John hadn't been able to fall asleep however and now the sky outside the windows was beginning to lighten with dawn. It was going to be a tough day with no sleep, but he couldn't regret it.

His thoughts had raced over all they had discussed. Kai would give him another chance. Trust was a funny thing. He and Kai had always trusted one another to have each others back in the field, but the kind of trust it took to be in a relationship was a trust Kai had no previous experience with. He had asked her to trust him with it, and he had failed her. John had many failed relationships in his past. None of them had come close to meaning to him what Kai did. He tightened his arms around her and she shifted, making a contented noise in the back of her throat. He brushed his lips across her hair. He wouldn't fail her again.

Kai stirred, blinking her eyes open, a sleepy frown on her face. John tightened his arms around her in a warm hug.

"Morning," he said.

As Kai brushed off the last cobwebs of sleep her eyes scanned his face and her frown deepened. "You didn't sleep," she accused.

John shrugged a shoulder. "I dosed."

Kai moved to pull away and John let her, even though every part of him wanted to stay exactly where they were. Kai turned back to face him. "What happens now?" she asked.

"Well..."he started and he cleared his throat. "We have work to do today," he said. "But I would like the opportunity to have dinner with you, if you'll allow it," he said.

"John-" she began.

"Look, I know it will take time Kai. We've been through a lot, but I can't start showing you unless you let me. Okay?" He was pushing. He knew that, but there was a part of him that was scared that if he gave her too much space, too much time alone to think, she would decide to run again. He couldn't risk it.

Kai nodded, her face was fixed in a scowl but she acquiesced. If they were going to do this she needed to let him. It was hard to let go of her suspicion, but she exhaled and nodded. She wanted to stay here, in the safe circle and warmth of John's arms, but she knew they had to figure out how to do this in their every day lives. Everyone had been walking on eggshells around them, she wasn't sure how to change that. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. She climbed to her feet and stretched out her sore muscles. She moved to her dresser and pulled out a change of clothing and headed into the bathroom to get ready.

John lay back against Kai's bed as she started getting ready for the day. He stared up at the ceiling. He was happy, but also wary of how he was going to do this. Now that he had convinced her to give him second chance he needed to be very careful he didn't screw this up. He glanced down at his watch and grimaced.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out him earpiece. He flipped channels until he landed on Teyla's.

"Teyla?" he called.

"Good morning John," Teyla replied.

"I'm not going to be able to make it to spar this morning," he said apologetically. He didn't bother to lower his voice. Kai would be able to hear him even over the closed door and running water.

"Of course, is everything okay?" Teyla asked, her voice layered with concerned.

John paused, he was at a complete loss for words to explain how so much had changed in just a few short hours.

"John?" Teyla pressed.

"Everything is good Teyla," John promised.

There was another long pause as Teyla processed what John was saying and everything left unsaid. "That makes me very happy for you," she finally said.

"See you later," John said.

"Later," Teyla agreed warmly and the comm clicked off.

Kai came out of her bathroom, dressed for the day. Her hands were up, wrapping her scarf around her head.

"I need to go get ready," John said pushing himself to his feet. His body was tired and felt heavy. It was was going to take a lot of coffee to get through the day. Luckily, his team wasn't scheduled to go off world today. They mainly needed to debrief the situation about Lucius and what had happened with the Genii and Kolya. John swiped a hand over his face. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad over Kolya's death, it gave him too much relief to know that an enemy who would have targeted both Atlantis and Kai specifically to hurt him was gone.

Kai nodded, standing across the room, not certain how to behave now. It felt as though there were an invisible wall between them. She shifted her weight restlessly.

John wasn't willing to accept that however and he strode across the room and kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you tonight," he said before he left.

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"Zian?" Major Lorne's voice came through her comm.

Kai reached up and activated it. "Zian here," she replied. She had been working alone in one of the maintenance hallways for the last few hours. She had specifically chosen a job that would allow her space and time to think. So far it wasn't helping.

"We are going to visit M4D-058, our usual science escort isn't able to join us today. Would you be interested?" Lorne asked.

Kai sat back on her heels, looking into the control panel in front of her. The power distribution relay could certainly wait for another time. Maybe an off world trip with the easy going Major and his team would be just the distraction she needed. "When do we leave Major?"

"As soon as you're ready," he replied, the smile evident in his voice.

Kai closed the panel and tucked her tools away in her bag. "I'm on my way," she said and she headed down to the locker room to suit up. Lorne and his team were already waiting in the jumper bay when she arrived. Kai climbed in and took one of the seats in the back. Major Lorne closed the back hatch and they lifted off. Kai had always enjoyed her time with Lorne's team. It was a little less chaotic than Sheppard's. The marines all got along well and they liked Lorne a great deal.

As the jumper approached the gate she wondered briefly if she should have told Sheppard she was going off world. She had never bothered before, but things had never been like this before. With their conversation last night they had left things with her planning on staying and them trying, but she had told him initially she was going to leave. She wondered if he would feel her leave and worry that she had gone back on her word.

She didn't like all of this second guessing and not knowing where they stood. And she liked even less that she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around him. She wanted to make things right, wanted to get back to where they were, but she wasn't sure how that was supposed to just happen given everything they had been through since. Things had always been so easy between her and John. She just wanted that back.

"What do you think Kai?" Lorne's voice cut through her thoughts.

Kai jerked in surprise and flushed as she realized how distracted she had been. She needed to stay focused if she was going to be off world.

Rather than draw attention to it, Lorne waited, but there was humor glittering in his eyes. It was rare to catch Kai out of her element.

Kai cleared her throat and climbed to her feet so she could look out the view screen. All thoughts of John slid from her mind as a deep frown settled on her face. Directly in front of them was a massive grid of satellites. She moved to the front of the jumper and glanced towards the sergeant. Lorne jerked his chin and his second in command slipped out of the co-pilots chair making room for Kai to sit. Her fingers flew over the controls as she activated the HUD and initialized a number of programs to begin scanning. She reached back and snagged the strap on her messenger bag, pulling it close to her. Once she had a hand on it, she lifted out her laptop and plugged into the jumper. She opened several programs to begin recording the data.

Lorne waited a few minutes while Kai worked and got her programs running. He had worked with scientists enough to know it was best to wait for her to finish compiling the data. Even though Kai was not a scientist, she was no exception to the rule. He had received plenty of tongue lashings for being impatient.

Kai's brow furrowed as the data started to come in. "It looks like Ancient technology," Kai said thoughtfully as she tapped away on her computer. "It is broadcasting through subspace, but with this equipment I can't decode the data..." she drew off. She turned her sensors to the planet and waited for them to send back the results. "It looks like there is a population below us," she said. "Several actually in different territories."

"Let's go take a look," Lorne said, and he turned the jumper to head down towards the planet's surface. "How are we looking?" he asked as they approached the planet.

"I'm not picking up any oppositional scanning or a weapons lock," Kai told him without turning her eyes away from her computer.

Lorne nodded and continued. "You said the satellites were Ancient technology? There any chance we might be stumbling into a settlement of Ancients or Asurans?"

"I'm also not picking up any additional technology. So it doesn't seem likely," Kai told him as they approached. It didn't make sense. The satellites were for sure Ancient in design and any civilization advanced enough to launch them should have had some kind of defense grid.

Lorne made a curious noise. "Well, let's set down and take a look then, shall we?" he suggested.

They set down the jumper in a small clearing not far from one of the population centers Kai had found. The marines stepped off first, establishing a perimeter around the jumper. Kai followed Lorne down the ramp, a life sighs detector in her hand. There was nothing in the immediate vicinity and she didn't hear anything that suggested there were any machines or technology close by.

There was a small walled city near by and Lorne motioned for the marines to follow them as he and Kai led the way. They crept up on the settlement, but everything they saw was agrarian. Kai got closer to the wall and peaked over the top, moving silently. Her dark clothing wasn't perfect, but she was quiet enough no one saw her. She froze as she saw a flag hanging on the wall. She lowered herself back down and crept back to Lorne.

"We need to contact Atlantis," she told Lorne in a hushed voice.

He frowned. "Something wrong?"

"I don't think I cane explain it. Let Weir know that they need to send a science team to take a closer look at those satellites, they aren't part of this civilization. But let her know that McKay and SG-A 1 should come and check out this town. McKay in particular," she said.

Lorne frowned but took her at her word. "I'll let them know," he agreed.

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John was sitting in the cafeteria with his team when he felt Kai go off world. No one sitting with him would have noticed a difference but he sucked in a deep breath as the feeling of the Bond closed in his chest. Teyla glanced towards him but she didn't say anything, instead staying focused on McKay's question.

John had a brief moment to wonder if Kai was leaving. He didn't think so. Things had been far from settled that morning, but he trusted that Kai genuinely wanted to fix things between them. It wasn't in her nature to run. If she planned to leave, he believed she would have faced him and told him. Having her not on the other end of The Bond was more uncomfortable than he wanted to admit. It was going to be a struggle when he was feeling so insecure with where their relationship was. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight in his chair.

His comm activated and Weir summoned him and McKay to the control room. He stood, pushing his chair back in behind him.

"John," Teyla started.

John looked up at her, meeting her gaze.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You seemed distracted."

John flashed her a wry smile. "All good, just tired" he promised and he followed McKay to the transporter.

"What was that about?" McKay asked.

John just shook his head. "Nothing," he said dismissively.

McKay stared at him hard, but decided not to push it. John had been moodier than usual with the issues going on between himself and Kai. McKay didn't understand why they couldn't just work out their differences. They were happier together, so being together was the obvious solution.

Elizabeth and Chuck were waiting for them in the control room near the large display screen. On it, John could see Major Lorne standing in the background chatting with Kai. John felt immediate relief and then at once felt foolish for the doubt that had gripped him. He needed to get his head on straight and focus.

"Okay Major," Elizabeth said. "Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay are here. Why don't you start from the beginning once more."

Major Lorne walked back towards his man that must have been holding the camera.

"We came through the space gate and immediately noticed a bunch of satellites in geosynchronous orbit around the planet."

"An advanced civilization?" Weir asked eagerly.

"That's what we thought. We picked up life signs directly below so we flew down and saw several villages separated by a large river and decided to check one of them out. As you can see-" Lorne motioned for his man to lift the camera. "These people don't look like they will be ready to be launching any satellites."

The video showed a farming village with people pushing hand carts and leading donkeys in rough spun clothing.

"At least not for the next five hundred years or so," Lorne added wryly.

"Ancients probably put them up there," Sheppard said.

Lorne nodded into the camera. "That's what Kai thought. She said we should leave and get a full science team back to look at the satellites."

Weir nodded her agreement.

"But, we think Doctor McKay might want to come check this town out for himself."

"Why?" McKay asked in disgust. The farming town having next to no interest for him compared to the satellites.

Lorne lifted his eyebrows sardonically. "Take a look," he lifted the camera and zoomed in on a flag that was hanging in the town center. The flag was hand painted with a perfect likeness of McKay's face.

There was a long beat of silence as those on the other end of the call processed what they were seeing. "Is that..." Elizabeth started to ask.

"You bet it is," Lorne said in a chipper voice. He was almost giddy with how much this was not his problem.

"Come back. Recall your team and we'll figure out what to do once you get back," Elizabeth instructed.

"Understood Ma'am," Lorne agreed and he turned to his team. "All right, let's hit it," he told them. He turned back to the camera. "We'll see you soon," he promised.

Chuck ended the transmission and Elizabeth turned to McKay and Sheppard. "I think you have some explaining to do."

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Lorne parked the jumper, and Kai was out the door as soon as the ramp lowered. She headed down to the control room, but found only Chuck sitting at the main control terminal. She lifted a brow.

"They headed out to the south pier," Chuck reported.

Kai nodded and went to the transporter to follow the group. She pulled up the internal sensors and followed the life signs out to a lab she was unfamiliar with. The door slid open and revealed Weir, McKay, Zelenka and Sheppard all standing around a double sided control counsel. McKay and Sheppard were arguing heatedly over something.

Elizabeth looked fed up with both of them and turned to see Kai in the doorway. "Kai," she greeted a flash of relief in her eyes.

The bickering stopped at least momentarily as Kai stepped into the room. "My data came back on the satellites and it appears as though the subspace transmissions were being broadcast to Atlantis," Kai reported.

"Yes, thank you," McKay snapped condescendingly. "We've got it covered from here."

"Is that what you think?" Elizabeth demanded. She shook her head in disbelief then turned back to Kai. "Thank you Kai," she said pointedly, arching an angry brow at McKay before continuing. "It appears as though this lab and the satellites are part of a bigger issue we are still unraveling, I'm sure Radek and McKay would appreciate your insights since you have seen both the satellites and settlement in person."

McKay made a noise in the back of his throat, but Zelenka nodded encouragingly. Kai stepped into the room and her gaze was immediately drawn to the screens. They showed different settlements. Kai cocked her head to the side as she studied the overhead view of the settlements.

"Why would the Ancients have this?" she mused out loud. "Were they monitoring them for some reason?"

"Clearly it was some kind of sociological experiment," McKay snapped. "Do try to keep up."

"I think you better head down there and see what is happening," Weir said to Sheppard and McKay. "Radek, Kai, would you be willing to stay here and continue your analysis?" Weir asked.

Kai nodded and plugged her laptop into the nearest work station.

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Kai and Radek worked for several hours before Weir returned to the lab. Elizabeth looked exhausted and a little frazzled.

"How are things on the planet?" Radek asked.

Weir shrugged, but her mouth was pinched in a tight line. "Well, they have made contact, but it doesn't sound like it is going very well. It seems McKay and Sheppard's people have trouble getting along," she said with an exhausted sigh.

Kai and Radek grimaced although neither looked terribly surprised. McKay and Sheppard hadn't managed to say two civilized words to one another since the whole affair of the game began.

"I'm going to suggest they bring the leaders here to attempt to broker peace. How are things down here. Do you know what we are working with yet?"

Radek nodded and stepped towards the main view screen eagerly. "This is an amazing piece of technology. It appears to be a sociological experiment designed by the ancients to help them as they were seeding  civilizations throughout the galaxy. I've had a chance to look into it further and it's interesting. There are many more planets in the game's database."

"Really? I thought Rodney said there were only two," Weir said, her expression wary. If things were already this complicated with just two civilizations she couldn't imagine how they were going to handle more.

"That's what he thought. The actual countries he and Colonel Sheppard are controlling are on this specific planet, but Kai was able to access the codes to unlock additional levels of the game," Radek said, his accent thickening with his excitement.

"It's not a game," Kai muttered from her work station. She glanced towards Elizabeth, who could usually be depended on to do what was right. She prayed she wouldn't regret unlocking the codes and exposing those other civilizations to the whims of Atlantis.

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder at Kai. While Radek was practically vibrating with excitement, Kai was scowling. Elizabeth raised a brow, inviting Kai to continue.

Kai breathed out an exhausted sigh and stood. "This isn't a game. These are people's lives," she said, her tone clipped as she shot Zelenka a disapproving look. She could not understand how people were attracted to taking control of other people's lives like this. Perhaps it was the lack of freedom she had had under the control of her own people, but she certainly didn't want that responsibility.

Zelenka had the good graces to look a little sheepish. "I discovered countries on other planets also part of this experiment throughout the galaxy."

"Some have been idle for the past 10,000 years," Kai said, motioning to the screen. "I guess awaiting instructions from the ancients."

"But some have managed to develop on their own and even flourish," Zelenka cut her off excitedly. "Some have been destroyed by war, and others have been completely wiped out."

Weir's eyebrows shot to her hairline and she turned back to Radek, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for him to explain how their influence was somehow a positive thing.

"Not that Rodney and Colonel Sheppard's civilizations are headed down that path..." he dragged off, his eyes cutting away from both Kai and Weir's disapproving looks.

Elizabeth shook her head and turned back to the screen. "So much power at one's fingertips," Elizabeth said, studying the layout of the civilizations below them.

Zelenka nodded. "It's amazing the attraction of this game," he agreed.

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Kai was walking back towards the lab. After several hours of work she had taken a break to get herself a tea. As she approached the door she could hear talking within.

"Sounds like a no-brainer to me," Major Lorne was saying.

Kai casually walked through the door. Lorne and Zelenka jumped as the door slid open. She looked back and forth between the two men. Lorne had on his best innocent face while Zelenka looked terribly guilty. She glanced up at the screen but nothing had changed since she was last here. She moved silently over to her laptop. No changes had been made to the programs. Everything appeared in order, so she wasn't sure why the two of them looked like they had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

She opened her mouth to say something but the doors slid open behind her.

Sheppard and McKay approached along with two others. One was a blonde woman with short hair, wearing an embroidered gold dress. The other was a tough looking bald man wearing chain mail and leather armor. McKay led them both over to the control panel for the game and began eagerly talking to the blonde woman, all but ignoring the gruff looking male.

Sheppard motioned towards Kai. "Baden, this is Kai. Kai, this is Baden. The ruler of Hallona."

Kai stood and nodded her head to the man. He returned her greeting without offering to shake her hand. It was interesting, most humans initiated physical contact on greeting.

"Hallona, where you are their oracle?" Kai asked, raising her brows.

"Yes, I'm their...oracle," John said, then he frowned as he met Baden's gaze. "That doesn't sound right," he said with a shake of his head. When playing the game it hadn't bothered him, but now that he knew there were real people on the other end of the counsel he didn't like the sound of it. Rodney however didn't seem to share the compunction.

He gleefully continued to show off for the beautiful blonde. "There, see?" he said clicking on a few buttons. "Construction has already begun."

"Yes," she said haltingly. "I gave the order myself." She looked to McKay, concern darkening her eyes. "Our lives are just a game," she said looking over the controls once more.

Kai glanced back and forth between Sheppard and McKay but neither of them seemed to know what to say. She sighed and got to her feet. "They aren't a game to you," she said, wishing Teyla or Elizabeth was here. Anyone better at offering comfort than herself.

"And in our defense," Sheppard added. "We were just trying to improve your lives."

"Yeah," McKay jumped in. "We were just trying to improve the conditions for your people."

"And if that meant cheating-" Sheppard started to say.

Kai scowled at him and whacked him with the back of her hand. He looked a little contrite, but only a little. Baden however was watching the two of them closely, his eyes narrowed.

"Okay, you know what-" McKay started, his voice rising.

Kai cleared her throat and McKay fell silent.

"I think perhaps that is enough for tonight. McKay, Sheppard, why don't you show our guests to their quarters please," Weir said pointedly. "I look forward to our talks tomorrow," Elizabeth said to the two leaders.

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It was late, and John was tired, but he wanted to see Kai. He had seen the disapproval on her face earlier and things were so fragile between them he just wanted a chance to talk to her again. He had been forced to cancel their dinner plans and instead spent the evening with Baden.

He found her down a maintenance hallway working on a panel. She was sitting on the ground with her back to the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. She was typing away on her laptop, frowning down at the screen.

John dropped down to sit beside her with a groan. He was approaching thirty-six hours without sleep and it was wearing on him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet warmth of the Bond and the clacking of the keys as Kai worked. He had almost drifted off when Kai finished and closed her laptop.

Kai turned her head to face John. He looked so tired, she felt terrible he had come here instead of going straight to bed. "So...this game-" Kai started.

John blew out a frustrated sigh and opened his burning eyes. "I needed something to pass the evenings," he said.

Kai nodded slowly but tried not to look too pleased. Not that she thought John had done a lot of dating on Atlantis before they got together. But knowing he had been spending his nights with McKay and not someone else steadied her. "You were bored so you decided to take over a primitive civilization?"

"I didn't know it was real," he said with a huff. "You've seen the counsels, they look like a game. McKay and I each took a settlement and changed their trade agreements and worked on developing them."

"So, you're telling me there was peace between their lands until you and McKay got involved?" Kai asked with a frown.

John sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He was so damn tired. "Yeah. Doesn't really seem like we helped them very much," he admitted. "He wants my help," John said, working his jaw. "Baden I mean. He wants more weapons."

Kai snorted and shook her head. She didn't fully understand why Elizabeth had allowed McKay and Sheppard to continue to be the point of contact for the two leaders. It was obvious their own conflict was still overshadowing the greater issues.

"McKay's people have already crossed their boarders and are exploiting their coal resources."

"But they aren't McKay's people," Kai pointed out gently.

"Badon asked me what my response would have been if we hadn't met. If I had just seen their actions on the screen..."

"What did you tell him?" Kai pressed. John had always had a habit of taking too much responsibility on his shoulders. But in this case there wasn't anything she could do to help him. It really had been his actions that had led to the conflict the people were facing.

"I didn't answer."

"Which was an answer of sorts," Kai pointed out.

John nodded. "Elizabeth is going to start negotiations with them tomorrow morning but I dont know how successful it will be. Neither side seems very interested in peace. McKay and I seemed to have started something they don't want to stop. I think they might be headed for war."

Kai pressed her lips together. She had seen the two leaders. Despite Baden's appearance neither one of them would be ready for the true realities of war. "Well, war won't start tonight," she said. She climbed to her feet and set her laptop aside. She offered John her hand and sent a gentle bump down the Bond.

John's eyes snapped open and met her serious grey gaze.

"You need sleep," Kai pressed.

John nodded and let Kai pull him to his feet. She was right.

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I hope you enjoyed the update!