Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

0.111.0

"So...how many days rations are on board?" John asked conversationally as he turned the chair back to face Kai. She was bent over her laptop, chewing on her lip in concentration. She had her scarf wrapped elegantly around her hair, leaving the long line of her throat bare. He swallowed and turned the chair again so he wouldn't be distracted by her. He wasn't sure if he had been fast enough though, or if she would feel his attention through the Bond. Things had been busy lately and they hadn't had much one on one time. Kai had been laid up for several weeks following their mission on M1B-129 while she recovered from her gunshot wound. During her confinement on Atlantis she had worked hard with McKay on finishing the Gate Bridge project.

"Fourteen if we're careful," she said distractedly as her fingers skittered across the keyboard. "That's as long as it takes the Daedalus to get from earth to Atlantis...but it shouldn't matter. If there is a malfunction, and we manage to survive, it will most likely be at Midway and the Daedalus is already there waiting for us."

"That's reassuring," John said glibly and he rotated back around to face Kai. "So, are you excited to see Earth?" he asked after a beat.

"In a way I already have," she responded, not looking up from her scans.

"Well...that barely counted," John argued thinking back on their experience on M5S-224. "You saw earth through my hallucinations," he reminded her.

It had been nearly three years before when Kai had first come to Atlantis. At the time John hadn't understood his urge to protect her, and despite being nearly a stranger, she had been pulled into his hallucinations due to his actions. "Do you suppose the Bond is the reason those mist people connected us telepathically for that?" he asked after a moment's consideration. It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth that he realized she might not have followed his train of thought.

Kai stopped working and looked up at John thoughtfully. Her brow wrinkled as she considered his words. "I don't honestly know when the Bond formed," she told him. "That was one of our first missions together...but the Bond formed fairly early, I think," she conceded, feeling a little embarrassed to admit just how early on she had been attracted to John Sheppard.

"You think?" He asked. They had talked about the Bond in the past, but not like this.

Kai shrugged. "I was as clueless as you when it first began."

John snorted. "You at least knew it was a possibility."

Kai chewed on her lip. "But I didn't believe it, I just thought..." she dragged off, unsure how to explain how it had felt to be around him those early months.

John flashed her a boyish grin. "You liked me," he teased.

She blew out a playfully frustrated sigh and turned back to her work, rolling her eyes at his behavior. She wasn't about to dignify that with a response. His ego didn't need the help. Her stoicism only made him chuckle.

"All right," Kai dragged off hitting enter. She looked up from her laptop, comparing the screen to the Jumper's systems. "We are all ready on our end."

The humor fled from John's face quickly and he turned back to face forward, all business as he powered up the Jumper. "Control Room this is Jumper 3, Zian and I are ready to proceed."

"Understood," Chuck responded. "Jumper 3 is clear for departure."

John nodded to Kai and she leaned forward and dialed the DHD. "Gate is dialed," John reported and he watched as Kai accessed the Macro program on her laptop. Once it was uploaded it appeared on the HUD in front of them.

"Forwarding macro has been uploaded," John reported to the control room. He knew every step and key stroke of this test was being monitored and would be reviewed. He didn't want to get yelled at by McKay for not being thorough.