Hello all! I hope all is well. I'm back with a new update. I have been participating in NaNoWriMo and am super excited that I have written three whole episodes ahead which will probably translate to about six or seven future updates. It will take some editing but love the opportunity to just get the words on the page. Now...who's ready for more Kai and John!?

Happy Reading!

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Grace Under Pressure
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Kai was attempting once again to finish up the changes to the sensors. It had become increasingly difficult to find time to work on them. Only Weir and Sheppard knew of her plans to leave and so it was difficult to motivate Zelenka to finish the project in a timely manner. It continued to be bumped back as more urgent projects came up.

Just two days prior there had been a bomb that threatened the safety of everyone on Atlantis. While Zalenka monitored one of the search parties she had begun the arduous task of going through the cities command codes line by line. It took hours but she finally found the line that identified Colonel Caldwell as the perpetrator. Sheppard and Ronon had quickly figured out he was possessed by a Goa'uld. A parasitic alien from Sheppard's galaxy. Kai had never seen anything like it, the parasite had full control over the Colonel's thoughts and actions. Once they were able to expel it they got the codes and saved the city. But once again the sensors were pushed off another day.

When Kai stepped into the Jumper bay that morning it felt like the Mortii fighter was mocking her. It had been five days since the Mortii assassin attacked. The High Council couldn't know of their existence and Atlantis needed a way to protect themselves once she was gone. She needed to keep her friends safe from the Mortii.

McKay and Zelenka had tried to rope her into helping on a repair project with one of the damaged jumpers. It went against everything in her, but she turned them down in lu of getting the work on the sensors done. She genuinely wanted to help, but she recognized that she would be leaving soon and they needed to be able to keep up the jumpers without her. Every day she was here was another day the Mortii could find her.

They all worked together in the bay for several hours. Kai was beyond frustrated. The new system in the Mortii computers weren't compatible with the Lantean technology in the city and it made it almost impossible to access the ships array. Zelenka and McKay however completed their project well ahead of hers and with a smug wave McKay boarded the jumper for its test flight. Everything was a competition with him.

Kai impatiently brushed a strand of hair back from her face, smudging grease across one cheek. Radek flashed a small smile of acknowledgement her way before heading up to the control room to monitor the flight. Kai slid back under the fighter with an impatient huff. It had only been a little over two years since she worked on Mortii ships, she couldn't believe how fast they had updated the network. She snatched up a wrench and began twisting off the bolts holding the bottom plating in place. If she couldn't access the network array through their systems she would have to do it the old fashion way.

She was almost halfway done when a small alarm began beeping on her tablet. She frowned and pushed herself out from under the fighter. She picked up her tablet as the alarm continued to chirp. She brushed her hair back from her face and tapped in her passcode.

The screen opened to show her Jumper 6 had a malfunction in one of the drive pods. She went cold. Jumper 6 was the one McKay had just taken out for a test flight with one of their newer pilots.

Kai tucked the tablet under her arm and touched her comm. "Radek this is Kai come in please."

"I'm sorry Kai, I can't talk right now," came Radek's uncharacteristically gruff reply and her comm deactivated.

Kai tucked her tablet under her arm and jogged toward the control room a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she arrived the whole control room was a flurry of activity. Zalenka was crouched over one of the control terminals.

"Griffin, McKay come in please," Raked said into the comm. Without missing a beat Kai crouched over the laptop sitting open in front of him. She tapped into the program and saw that Jumper 6 had gone down over the ocean. She immediately set the sensors to track their Radio telemetry as soon as they responded so they could locate the downed Jumper. She opened a second window and began to run diagnostics on the data Zalenka had been gathering during their flight to figure out what went wrong.

"Jumper 6 come in please," Zalenka said into the comm again but once more there was no answer. Zalenka stepped out of the control room to inform Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard of the situation. If Kai strained she could hear his side of the conversation but she didn't bother. She had work to do and every second mattered for McKay and Griffin.

Kai's fingers flew over the keyboard. She had the location where the Jumper malfunctioned, but the area of ocean it could have crashed into was huge. Kai continued working on figuring out what could have gone wrong. None of the last sensor data however had successfully transferred back to Atlantis. Zalenka returned and took his place at the control terminal. He scrubbed a hand over his face and Kai could see the lines of stress around his eyes. She felt incredibly guilty that she hadn't been helping them on the project. It didn't necessarily mean this wouldn't have happened, but the fact that she hadn't been part of it because she selfishly wanted to leave weighed on her.

"Griffin, McKay," Zalenka said again after a while.

"Yeah," came McKay's strained reply. "We're here."

"McKay thank god!" Radek exclaimed. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for almost half an hour," Radek turned to Kai. "Notify Dr. Weir, we have made contact."

Kai nodded and stepped away, touching her comm. "Doctor Weir, we have them."

"We're on our way," Weir responded.

Kai turned off her comm and turned back to Zalenka. "Are you all right?" he was asking over the radio.

"What the hell happened?" McKay's voice was fuzzy and the transmission cut in and out.

"The jumper you were flying disappeared off our screens and crashed into the ocean," Zalenka reported.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes we're-" McKay dragged off, there was a long pause. "We're under water," he gasped, though it was difficult to tell as the connection continued to come in and out. Kai immediately tried boosting the signal but nothing she did seemed to work.

"Yes you are," Radek confirmed, sharing a concerned look with Kai. McKay seemed distracted and like he was't exactly tracking the conversation.

"How are you going to find us?" McKay asked, his voice rising in concern.

Zalenka cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up his nose. "We've determined the direction of your radio signal but not the range. Kai is working on that as we speak. Now that you are broadcasting it will be much easier to track you."

"How deep are we?" McKay asked, but it didn't sound like he was talking to them over the radio.

"One, two, zero, zero and falling," Griffin supplied, his voice sounded crisp and calm.

"Radek you're going to have to hurry it up," McKay came back urgently. "We're already twelve hundred feet deep and sinking. At a rate of about ah- twenty feet a minute."

"Very impressive," Radek said, he was distracted as he began working his own program to locate them.

"Excuse me?" McKay snapped.

Zalenka still wasn't fully paying attention. Kai glanced towards him, shocked by how poor he was at handling this type of situation. They needed to reassure McKay, not make things worse. She sincerely hoped Weir and Sheppard would arrive soon. "Well, we always theorized that the jumpers could be utilized as submersibles."

"Yes, yes yes yes, I theorized it," McKay snapped his voice once again tight with stress and the first touches of panic.

Zalenka's fingers clicked away on his keyboard as he focused on the problem in front of him. "...but twelve hundred feet that's almost the maximum depth of a nuclear powered submarine."

McKay snorted. "We're not so keen on setting any records right now, so just-"

There was a crack like a gunshot and Kai jumped. Radek looked at her in confusion and she realized he hadn't heard it over the radio.

"What was that?" Kai called into the comm.

"The windshield's giving way to the pressure of the ocean!" McKay yelled.

Kai touched her comm. "Move into the rear compartment, the seal will be able to hold."

"One step ahead of you," McKay snapped and the comm went dead.

Kai and Radek exchanged a concerned look, but waited. Nothing happened. Kai scowled and went back to her laptop and began typing rapidly. "We've lost the radio signal," she said her eyes widening. Her fingers flew across the keys as she tried to back trace it to it's last know location, but there was nothing to trace. She turned to look at Zalenka and shook her head. "I lost them."

Weir and Sheppard came into the control room seconds later. Weir motioned for the two of them to follow her towards her office away from the ears of all the techs working.

"I thought you said life support could sustain them for days," Weir said sharply once Zalenka had explained to her the true gravity of what McKay and Griffin were facing.

Zalena shook his head. "I said life support would most likely support them for days," he corrected. "I had no idea that the ship would sink so quickly or that the cockpit would flood."

"So, that's when you lost contact?" Sheppard asked turning to look at Kai. "Once the cockpit flooded?"

Kai nodded, not quite reaching Sheppard's eyes. She didn't know how to act around him, but now that there was something for them to focus on and work towards things were much easier.

"If they didn't make it to the rear compartment in time..." Weir dragged off.

"I believe they made it," Kai said firmly.

John glanced at her but Kai's eyes were locked on Weir. She had said she was leaving, but here they were in the middle of another emergency and she was there.

"Based on what McKay said right before the radio went dead I believe they made it," Kai corrected. "The radio transmitter is in the front compartment which would have been flooded with water, disabling it."

"Still," Zalenka said cautiously. "They're going to be much harder to locate now that they're no longer broadcasting."

"Then find another way," Sheppard snapped. McKay was his responsibility as well as his friend. He hadn't realized McKay was going up on the test flight and Zalenka's cavalier attitude about the whole thing was grating on him.

"Look," Zalenka said shifting his weight uncomfortably. He wasn't used to dealing with Sheppard in this kind of high stress situation and he shifted back. "Even if we do locate them, our options are limited. They are already deeper than a rescue jumpers windshield can handle."

Kai could feel John bristling.

"I'll handle the rescue," John assured him. "You just worry about finding them. I've already got some ideas."

"All right," Weir agreed. "We're on a clock, let's get back to work."

John turned to Kai. "You're with me," he called to her. She glanced towards Zalenka who nodded. Zalenka and the rest of the team could find them without her. She followed John down to the jumper bay.

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"What's all this?" Doctor Weir asked as she poked her head inside one of the jumpers in the jumper bay. A shower of sparks erupted beside her where Kai was working with a small welding torch.

"This is my plan," John said looking up from the tablet a tech was holding out to him and walking over to her.

"Yeah I figured that much, care to elaborate?" Weir asked wryly. The whole place was filled with techs running around.

"Well," Sheppard said turning and pointing to two men working over a large piece of equipment. "Doctors Moore and McNab are here to study the ocean on M8R-169 which happens to be under a thick sheet of ice, so they brought a 1,000 foot cable and a power winch to lower their instruments-"

"Okay," Weir agreed.

"And Edgar over here," John said twisting around and motioning to the man. "Is responsible for the magnetic grapple designed to lower the F-302's into our Jumper bay."

"And you intend to put the two together?" Weir asked raising her eyebrows.

"Like chocolate and peanut butter!" Sheppard replied triumphantly.

Kai lowered her welding goggles and turned her eyes to Weir. "He keeps saying that, can you explain?" she asked dryly.

Weir looked back and forth between the two of them and couldn't help thinking the two of them were a little like that. They were good on their own, but when they worked together they were even better.

Sheppard rolled his eyes at Kai. Kai shrugged and lowered her goggles and went back to work. Weir frowned. The two of them had always worked well together in the past, joking and teasing, but now there was a hard edge. She hoped it wasn't Sheppard putting pressure on Kai to stay. Weir had assured Kai they would support her regardless of her decision and Weir intended to stand by that promise.

"Is the mechanism strong enough to lift a half flooded jumper out of the water?" Weir asked, clearing her throat.

Kai pointed at Weir with her blow torch and a tip of her head as though to congratulate her for asking the right question.

"Not a chance," Sheppard agreed brightly.

Weir opened her mouth to argue but Sheppard continued. "We don't have to," he explained quickly. "We just have to get near enough to the surface so we can get McKay and Griffin out with a cutting team and rescue divers."

Weir nodded. "Good, how long?" she asked turning to Kai.

Kai lowered the goggles once more, her grey eyes slightly pinched with annoyance. "If I don't keep getting interrupted?" she asked cutting her eyes to Sheppard. "...maybe an hour."

Weir nodded and gestured for her to go back to work. She turned back to face John. "You and Rodney have been bugging me for the chance to try out the Jumper as a submersible, but you sure went a hell of a long way to make me say yes."

"Well you still haven't said it yet," Sheppard pointed out.

"I just did."

John nodded and spun away to get back to work. He paused to turned back to Weir. "How close is Zalenka to finding them?"

"I'm going to go ask him right now."

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Weir, Kai and John stood in front of the screen in Zalenka's lab less than and hour later. Kai had finished all the adjustments that needed to be made to the jumper and they were as ready as they were going to be. They just needed to know where to look.

"Three miles is a very searchable area," John said with a confident nod as he studied the map Zalenka had laid out before him. "You narrowed it down Radek. You did a good job."

Radek shook his head. His arms were wrapped around himself in the way Kai knew meant he had bad news to deliver. "He's too deep, you're grapples only got 1,000 feet of cable"

"Yeah, we know the jumper should be able to dive at least 1,000, so if he's above 2,000 we should still be able to get him with the grapple." John was pacing again. He was back to the perpetual motion the stress of the rescue had driven him to. His friend was in danger and he didn't sit still very well. Every passing moment was feet Rodney was losing.

"And if he is deeper?" Weir asked carefully, although she already knew the answer.

"He probably is," Radek said. "The area we're searching goes to 6,000"

John raked a hand through his hair. He wasn't going to just give up on McKay. Rodney wouldn't give up on him if the situation was reversed. He just wished McKay was here now, he would have some brilliant, out of the box idea to save the day. Zalenka was good at his job, but he lacked imagination and daring.

John paused as a thought struck him and swung back around to face Kai and Radek. "When the Wraith attacked the city you were able to turn the shield into a cloak..."

Kai froze, her eyes widening and she turned to face John her eyes widening in excitement. "Turn the jumpers cloak into a shield," she said in a low tone.

John nodded, a smile pulling at his face. This was it, he could feel it. They were going to actually pull this one off.

Zalenka shoved his glasses up his nose, his face pinching in concern. "That would hold back the water yes, but it would take significantly more power."

John shrugged. "We'll shut down everything we don't need."

"But it would take hours to reconfigure." Radek argued.

John was nodding. "So you'll take what you need and make the changes down there."

Zalenka froze as he processed the colonel's words. He swung back around to face Sheppard, blanching. "I'm not...I can't even swim!" Radek argued.

"There's not a whole lot of swimming under 1,000 feet of ocean," Sheppard replied dryly.

"I'll go," Kai quickly volunteered. "I can make the configuration in a little over an hour. Give me a few minutes to get my gear."

John nodded to her gratefully and Kai slipped out from the room to gather everything she would need

Radek looked after her sharply but he didn't argue. Going down in that jumper was the scariest thing he could think of, and Zian was talented enough to make the changes to the cloak. He just hoped it was soon enough for Rodney.

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John was already sitting in the pilot chair when Kai climbed into the jumper. Kai glanced at him and tucked her gear into the cargo area. This was going to be the most time she had spent alone with him since their kiss. They had both been avoiding one another. The jumper felt small and intimate, but luckily she went to work and had the conversion of the cloak to a shield to distract her.

"All right, we're above the search coordinates," John said hovering the jumper over the roiling waves.

Kai slid the panel closed and walked up to her seat beside Sheppard. "It should transition seamlessly," she assured him, typing on her laptop.

"All right then, here goes nothing." And John lowered them into the water.

The light within the jumper dimmed and the dark blue of the ocean surrounded them.

"Atlantis this is Sheppard come in,"John called.

"We can barely hear you John," Weir's voice was garbled and cut in and out.

"We're going to lose you all together once we get deeper, so now's the time to wish us luck."

"Good luck then," Weir replied grimly although her voice sounded small and faraway.

"We'll contact you as soon as we head back to the surface. Have the divers in Jumper 8 standing by."

"Will do, Weir out."

John turned off the radio and glanced back towards Kai. She was staring intently at her computer. The backlight from her screen illuminated her face despite the dimness of the jumper. Her brow was wrinkled in concentration as she worked.

"What do you think Zian?" John asked with forced brightness. He wasn't sure what to say to her now. They had both been steadfastly avoiding one another since he kissed her. She had told them she was leaving, but here she was, throwing herself into danger to save Rodney.

Kai didn't look up from her laptop where she was typing steadily. "About what?" she asked continuing to work.

"We're under water!" John exclaimed excitedly. "I've always wanted to try this," he confided.

Kai lifted her eyes and stared out the windshield. It really was beautiful and she couldn't help but appreciate John's boy-ish enthusiasm for the adventure of it all. "As long as it's not too much water," she said, unwilling to admit she thought it was as cool as he did.

John snorted, shaking his head as Kai worked harder than usual to keep her expression emotionless. He could see straight through her. "I've leveled out and holding steady at 990 feet. How's it coming?"

"All I'm picking up are sporadic life signs," Kai reported.

John glanced at her. "As in sea monster life signs?" he asked.

Kai didn't bother responding to his question. There was a rumble against the hull of the ship as it adjusted to the pressure. They both froze, staring at the windshield to see if it was going to hold. When nothing happened John cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We're ah, going to need those shields up and running."

Kai nodded, and went back to her laptop. "Yes well, then stop distracting me."

"You were distracting me," John shot back childishly.

Kai scoffed but kept working. Half an hour later she implemented the program. "I think I've got something," Kai said coming up to sit beside John. "Initializing shields." There was a rush and they could see the glow of the shield out in front of them.

"Nice work Zian," John congratulated. He glanced at her, with a teasing glint in his eye. "You know, for a girl," he added wryly. His hands hovered over the controls. "Let's take this baby a little deeper."

"Wait," Kai said reaching for him without looking up from her screen. Her fingers touched his warm skin and she flinched, glancing at him in surprise.

John didn't respond, though her clear discomfort made his jaw tighten. He never should have kissed her.

Kai jumped up and went back to the rear controls. "Wait wait wait," she chanted softly as she scanned the readings. "The shield is draining our power at an alarmingly fast rate."

"Why is that?" John called back at her. He was pissed at himself once again and it made his tone brittle.

"Well..." Kai drew off, her fingers running over the keyboard. "...a cloak draws it's power at a constant rate, a shield draws more power the more it is taxed."

"So..." John said thoughtfully. "Being under several atmosphere's of pressure..."

"Yes, it's continuing to drain power from the shield."

"How much time do we have?" John asked.

"Once we're deeper...an hour tops."

John cleared his throat, their plan hadn't accounted for such a short amount of time to find McKay, and he wasn't willing to risk Kai's life either. "All right, looks like we'll have to search fast. Descending to one thousand."

"The scanners are up and running," Kai reported. "Still nothing but sporadic life signs."

John nodded. Now that there was nothing to do but wait, the tension between them continued to grow. He glanced towards her, but she was steadfastly staring at the readings. Things had always been so easy between them. He hated the tension and hated even more that he didn't know how to fix it.

"It was nice of you to volunteer for this mission," he said conversationally.

Kai glanced up at him. He was making a point not to look at her as he spoke. "Well Zalenka is afraid of the ocean so-"

"I meant because you were trying to finish up your project and leave."

Kai glanced at him as his tone turned brittle. "I couldn't just leave when this was-"

"You couldn't?" John asked his voice sharper than he meant. He scoffed and shook his head. "You do know we can take care of ourselves. You don't owe us any favors."

Kai pulled back. "That's not true," she said in a low tone.

"Yeah well, you have a funny way of showing it," John growled. He was surprised by how angry he was. He had told himself he would accept her decision regardless, but he was having a hard time now that he was facing the prospect of her leaving.

"John I-" Kai started to say. She was shocked by his sudden anger that plowed straight down there connection. It left her breathless.

She had seen John angry at other people before, but never had it Been directed at her. She tightened her jaw, her hands flexing over the controls. She should have just left, she shouldn't have stayed this long. 

"Look," John snapped cutting her off. "If you're going to go you should just go. Hanging it over my-" he stopped, quickly correcting himself. "Peoples heads isn't fair."

Kai froze and stared at him. "I didn't mean-" she started to say, started to try and find a way to apologize, to explain herself to him, but he just shook his head and turned his attention back to the controls.

"Yeah well, you did," he said, just as angry with himself as he was with her. He didn't lose his temper like this often and it shook him to his core that he couldn't seem to get control of his mouth.

Kai turned back to the controls in front of her as his words played over and over in her mind. She wanted to close off the connection between them, but she wouldn't hurt him like that just to protect herself from his feelings. She wasn't used to having to take other people's feelings into account and the fact that she had hurt Sheppard's feelings of all people. She just wanted to do the right thing, but it was impossible to know what that was anymore.

They sat in uncomfortable silence as the jumper continued to descend.

"Colonel," Kai said formally after a few moments. "It could be the shields, could be the depth, but I'm having trouble detecting the jumper...only-"

"Only?" John asked his voice was hard and businesslike.

"Bring up the HUD," Kai requested, keeping her eyes down. John opened it and his eyes widened as it picked up a massive life sign ahead of them.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's your sea monster. It's at least six to eight times the size of the jumper, so I suggest we keep our distance."

"How are the shields doing?" John asked. Now that they had both said their piece they were working hard to remain focused on the mission in front of them.

Kai tapped on her computer "Only twelve minutes remaining."

"All right, let's check it out," John said, moving the jumper closer to the massive creature.

"Why?" Kai snapped.

John shot her a disgruntled look. "Because it's swimming in circles in the same area which means it might have found something interesting..."

Kai shook her head at his stubbornness but didn't bother arguing. It wouldn't do any good.

"Do you have a better idea?" he challenged, but she didn't.

Kai's computer beeped. John looked back at her. "Jumper!" Kai exclaimed. "I have the jumper! The animal is circling around it."

"Jumper six this is Sheppard, come in."

Kai's stomach dropped. "According to my readings it's dead, no power."

"Alright," John replied grimly. Stealing himself for the fact that his friend's chances of being alive just dropped. Kai actually felt the small moment of despair through their connection and she swallowed hard.

"Let's get a grapple on this thing and go home," he said defeatedly.

Kai shook her head. "It won't work."

"Why's that?"

"It's taken on too much water. Sensors show the rear compartment is partially flooded, the cable won't hold it."

"Well we can try," he shot back. His seething temper rising quickly to the surface.

"It's a matter of physics John," She said as patiently as she could manage. She didn't like being snapped at and her own temper was rising in response.

John turned back to Kai his eyes snapping. "I'm not coming this far without doing something."

Kai looked up at the jumper in front of them with a sigh. She stiffened as a crazy idea struck her. "The shield, I should be able to extend the shield around both of them."

"Do we have enough power?" John asked.

"If we set down to conserve engine power it should just be a simple matter of walking between the two jumpers."

"All right," John agreed. "I'll get us as close as I can."

Kai immediately went to work, typing rapidly to expand the shield. As soon as Sheppard set them down he began powering down the systems they didn't need.

"All right," he said.

Kai nodded and activated the shield. The dimensions weren't precise and it could only hold for so long. "We need to move fast," she advised.

"McKay, Griffin do you copy." John called into the radio. He stood and slapped the controls to open the rear hatch. It lowered and Kai stood up to follow him. She may still be miffed at John but she wasn't going to miss out on the chance to walk on the floor of the Atlantian Ocean.

"McKay, do you copy?" John asked again over the comm.

"Sheppard?" McKay's voice was weak over the radio.

John breathed out a sigh of relief. "Hey buddy I need you to lower your door."

"That's probably a bad idea," McKay said weakly.

John and Kai walked across the ocean floor. Their feet sinking into the soft wet sand. Kai looked down as her feet squished through the sand. She was surprised there was nothing else down here.

"Listen," John said as he approached the other Jumper. "Long story short, Kai converted the cloak into a shield and extended it around your jumper. I'm standing outside right now," John knocked on the rear hatch with his fist.

"What?" McKay asked in disbelief.

"All you have to do is open your door and walk to my jumper," John said.

There was a heavy pause and Kai and John exchanged a concerned look. Nothing was happening.

"McKay what's the hold up? We have to do this sooner rather than later, the shield isn't going to hold forever," John said into his comm.

Kai scowled as no answer came back. There was another couple seconds of silence and McKay's comm clicked on. "Better stand back, I've taken on a lot of water," McKay warned his voice shaky.

Still nothing happened. Kai frowned at John. He shifted his weight restlessly. There was no way to open the rear hatch from the outside. At least not without Kai's tools, which she hadn't thought to bring with.

After a few seconds the door finally opened and water poured out, soaking their shoes. McKay was laying on the soaking floor of the jumper. He was pale and shaking with blood coming from his temple.

"McKay, you all right?" John asked. They both ran to his side and helped him up.

"I will be," he promised.

"Where's Griffin?" John asked looking around the dark cargo area.

"He was in there," McKay said motioning to the forward compartment.

John glanced once more at Kai but neither of them said anything else. "All right let's get you home," John said and he and Kai helped McKay up. They each took one of his arms across their shoulders and made their way back across the ocean floor towards the other jumper. Kai's smaller size made it difficult for them to suspend him between them but they managed.

"No I have to decompress, Carter told me to increase the pressure..." McKay babbled.

"Who did?" Kai asked sharply.

"I did," he covered quickly. "I told myself...I hurt my head," he added weakly.

There was a cry from the sea creature circling above them. McKay flinched. "Oh see ya pal, looks like you don't get to eat me today."

John scoffed. "He's the reason we found you."

"Really?"

"Almost thought we lost you," John said as they set him down in the back of the jumper. Kia found an emergency blanket in the first aid kit and wrapped it around McKay. She returned to her seat and as soon as Sheppard closed the rear hatch she pulled their shield back so it was only encircling their jumper.

"I knew you're think of something," McKay mumbled. "Subconsciously at least."

McKay stood and stepped forward between their seats. He was still shaking and held the blanket around his shoulder. He looked back out towards the abandoned jumper as John began the slow ascension towards the surface.

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When John set the jumper down in the Jumper Bay the medical team was already waiting. He lowered the rear hatch and Beckett and his team ran aboard. They whisked Rodney away on a gurney towards the infirmary. As soon as they were gone John stood from his seat. He turned towards Kai but she was steadfastly ignoring him and packing up her equipment.

"Kai-" he started to say.

She stiffened and turned around with her laptop tucked under one arm. "If you'd excuse me Colonel," she said formally. "I have some adjustments to make to the sensors," she said briskly and she hustled out of the Jumper before John could say anything else.

John groaned and hung his head backwards as he blew out a frustrated sigh. He had blown it. He shoved himself to his feet and stalked off to the infirmary to see how McKay was doing. At least there he wasn't going to screw anything else up.

The doors slid open and Beckett greeted John as he stepped into the infirmary.

"How's he doing?" John asked scrubbing a tired hand over his face .

"He's resting. Hypothermic, anemic and a mild concussion, but he will be back to his normal self in a few days."

"So we'll have a few days of peace at least," John joked weakly.

Beckett nodded. He glanced back at the Colonel who was staring down at the unconscious McKay. "Is there something else Colonel?" Beckett asked carefully. John Sheppard wasn't one to discuss his feelings, but Beckett could see there was something weighing on his friends shoulders.

"Can-" John started and he stopped. "Can I ask you a question?"

Beckett stiffened and then glanced around. There was no one left in the infirmary but himself and the nurse on call, but he didn't want them to be overheard if this was a private matter for the Colonel. He ushered John into his office. "What's on your mind Colonel?"

"When I was talking with Kai about her telepathy she said that anyone with the ATA gene had the potential to sort of pick up on it. I guess I was just wondering..." John drew off and blew out a sigh. "Well I guess I was wondering if you had ever noticed anything around her."

Beckett froze and turned to face John. The Colonel had figured out. Beckett pressed his lips together, Kai had confided in him about the Bond and it wasn't his place to say anything about it to the Colonel, but it was obvious he knew there was something.

"No," Beckett said clearing his throat. "I can't say that I have," he said honestly. "What did she say about it?"

John shrugged as casually as he could manage. "She said her people could form a telepathic bond and that anyone with the gene would be able to pick up on it. And you're the next strongest CIA so I thought I would ask."

Beckett steepled his fingers together. "I'm sorry Colonel," Beckett said with a shake of his head. "Is there something we need to be concerned about?" he asked casually.

John blew out a sigh as Beckett confirmed what he had somehow known. More than one person they had encountered had referenced it and if he was honest he had felt it himself. Whatever it was he felt when Kai was around was something that was just theirs. A Bond. And he had screwed it up. As usual. His ex-wife certainly wouldn't have been surprised.

"Ah look, just forget about it," John said with a shake of his head. "It's nothing. I'm just tired."

Beckett nodded. "All right," he agreed. "Though if you find anything else out about it, I would be very much interested in learning more about the Mortii's telepathic capabilities."

John nodded but he had no intention of telling Beckett or Weir about it. He wasn't about to let Kai become a pin cushion again in the name of science. "Let me know when McKay wakes up," he called over his shoulder.

Beckett nodded and waved as the Colonel left the infirmary.

John had one stop to make before he returned to the Jumper Bay. He opened a drawer in his room and lifted out his peace offering. He just hoped it was enough. He slid it into his pocket and hustled through the hallways. It was late, the lights had already shifted to nightmode. When he stepped into the Jumper bay the only lights on were the work lights pointing at the Mortii fighter.

He could only see her legs sticking out from under it. He knew she could hear him so he didn't bother saying anything. He walked over to the fighter and dropped down to sit on the floor. He rested his back against the cool metal of the fighter and sat there for a while, just listening to her quiet movements as she worked.

"I was an asshole," John said in a low tone after a few minutes.

Kai kept working but she slowed. The Colonel was the last person she expected to see tonight. After their discussion in the jumper she had every intention of working straight through until she could leave.

"How much longer?" John asked. His voice lacked its usual confidence.

Kai left the connection between them wide open and she felt a strange shiver of uncertainty. It didn't make sense. The Colonel had been adamant that she was taking too long to leave. Why was he uncertain now?

"A couple hours," she replied. "I'll be gone by morning."

She felt the stab of pain as though it were her own and she actually flinched. She didn't understand. She frowned and slid out from under the fighter so she could see his face.

He was sitting beside where she was working. His face was tired as he stared off into the dark corners of the jumper bay. He glanced down at her and his face softened at the same moment she felt the soft bump through their connection.

She stared into his eyes, letting herself note the way the brown and green swirled together. She didn't know if he felt it the same way she did, but she nodded anyway.

"I have something for you," he said uncomfortably after a few moments.

John reached into his back pocket and lifted out a Reese's. "A peace offering," he said and he held it out to her.

Kai took the brightly wrapped orange bar from his fingers. He nodded and pushed himself to his feet, groaning as he turned to head towards the door.

She pushed herself up on her elbows. "What's this?" She asked, turning the wrapper over in her hands.

John turned back to face her, a small private smile on his face. "Chocolate and peanut butter."

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I hope you guys enjoyed it! It ended up being super long and while I probably could have broken it into two parts I was WAY too excited to get it to you guys. So please make up for it by commenting lots!!!